Electrophoresis
by Vampcoffee
Summary: Doctor Element, the latest nemesis of the Teen Titans, has subjected a number students to dangerous science projects. Among them is Project Mercury, a young girl who seems to have survived the experiments better than her classmates. She explores her altered state while assisting the Titans in their fight against the Doctor.
1. Electron Transfer

**Electron Transfer** occurs when an electron moves from one atom or molecule to a different atom or molecule.

* * *

Ashley felt atomized metal bonding to her exposed vertebrae. An odd whirring accompanied this process, tubes of bluish liquid serving as the channel through which the alloy was electrically grafted to the bones of her neck and upper spine. Ashley laid on a hard surgical table, goosebumps on her skin where her skin met the cold slate. Her eyes stared blankly at the stark white florescent strips hanging from the ceiling above. She was awake. She was aware of the deep incisions separating the skin and flesh from the back of her neck and base of her head. She had felt the neural implant secured to her nerve center just moments before.

Two other young people laid on similar tables elsewhere in this makeshift laboratory. They had been the first and second "project" to be subjected to this treatment, Ashley being the third. Also in the room with her was the mastermind behind this utter depravity. Doctor Element stalked through the dim light of his surgery dungeon, a gritty, abandoned storage room in the basement of a college in Jump City. He clicked on the console attached to Ashley, checking the progress of electroplating her spine. The reading displayed eighty percent.

"I appreciate your volunteering," Doctor Element said, looking to his three test subjects "All of you." He folded hands behind his back and paced the basement. "Science is furthered by brave young souls such as yourself."

Soon after, footfalls could be heard outside the room, drawing near. There were several sets belonging to more than one person and approaching with urgency. Doctor Element turned to the door just as an oddly green ram charged through the entrance. Beast Boy was joined by Cyborg as he reverted to his normal form.

"Now that's using your noggin!" Cyborg joked.

Beast Boy rubbed his forehead. "Dude, what is that door made of?"

"No, no, no, no..." Doctor Element took a step backwards from the pair before turning toward the other doorway, hoping to escape via an alternative route. A well-placed kick swung that door open as well and Robin dove through the doorway, followed by Raven and Starfire. "How did you find me?" the villainous doctor asked.

Robin stood from a crouched position, his masked eyes glaring into the evil doer. "People know who to call."

Starfire hovered over Robin's left shoulder. "We should now begin the taking of him down, yes?" she asked.

"Preferably before he gets away," Raven groaned.

"We have him this time," Robin assured the team. He pointed at the doctor. "There's no way out!"

Doctor Element raised the sleeve of his lab coat and began tapping on some sort device attached to his wrist. "The elements of this universe happen to be quite useful..." he began. "Allow me to demonstrate." With a final click, a flash of light overtook the doctor. When the light dissipated, he appeared to have become entirely made of metal. His clothes, skin, everything, now had a steely, metallic glow.

"Titans, go!" Robin shouted, his command echoing in the basement as Starfire and Cyborg attacked from range, a volley of energy blasts firing from in front and behind the doctor. Robin and Beast Boy closed distance in the next second, striking with a staff and the horns of a rhinoceros respectively.

The doctor hardly flinched, the transformation rendering him nigh-invulnerable. His metal form twisted in counter attack, knocking Robin and Beast Boy back with heavy, crushing strikes. Raven waved her hands and an eerie black aura surrounded the doctor, trapping him in a dome of her magic. Doctor Element smirked and reached for his device again, switching his form from metallic to gaseous. He dissolved into a fine atomic mist and floated upwards, out of Raven's containment field and towards the ceiling where he vanished via the ventilation system.

With Doctor Element having escaped, Beast Boy shifted back to human form. "Dude, what is _he_ made of?"

Robin walked over to Beast Boy and Cyborg. "Some sort of metal? And then after that a gas." He turned his attention as Raven and Starfire joined them. "Cyborg, any specifics?"

"Nope, I was busy, y'know, shooting him," Cyborg said. "I'll get some scans next time."

"What of these individuals?" Starfire wondered, looking at the three teens laying on the tables. "They appear to be similar to us in age."

"Split up," Robin instructed. "Check them out."

Raven and Starfire walked to the table in the middle of the room while Beast Boy and Cyborg went to investigate the furthest one on the other end of the room. Robin stayed by the girl, collapsing his staff then taking a few steps over to where she laid. "Hey, can you hear me?" he called to her.

Ashley stared plainly at the ceiling. "Mercury..." she droned.

"Mercury? Is that your name?" Robin asked.

"Mercury..." Ashley repeated.

Robin folded his arms. "Hmm," he muttered, a quizzical look on his face.

Shortly after, the other Titans returned with more information. "The other two are labeled Project Platinum and Project Lithium," Cyborg informed Robin. "They were implanted with a neuron amplifier device then grafted with galvanized steel on their neck and upper spine."

Robin nodded. "Is that what happened to her as well?" he asked, piecing the scene together.

"Yes, but her process isn't complete," Cyborg noticed upon scanning the nearby console. "It's at ninety percent."

"Whatever this procedure is, it affects the mind negatively," Raven uttered, psychically searching the subjects laying before them. "The others are void of personality. With her, something remains."

Robin knelt down to look underneath the table. There he saw the implant Cyborg mentioned and the tubes attached to Ashley's neck through which the metallic alloy was grafted to her bones. Robin reached for the tubes, taking them in a tight grasp.

Beast Boy peeked under the table as well, curious. "You sure that's a good-" The shifter began upon seeing Robin with the tubes in his hand, already ripping them out. "...idea?"

Fluid spilled from the tubes and the nearby console flashed red with errors. "The least we can do is stop this 'project' from going any further," Robin said, going with his gut. He pulled out another set of tubes from Ashley's back then stood.

With the machine removed, what remained of Ashley's persona returned. "What- where am I?" She spoke, turning her head to see Starfire floating above her. "Who are you?"

"I am Koriand'r from Tamaran," Starfire answered cheerfully, despite the situation. "We are currently on the planet Earth where-"

Cyborg looked up from the console. "That's probably not what she means, Star."

At this time the other two subjects, both young males, began to stir. "Uh guys, check this out," Beast Boy called to the team.

Robin turned to see what Beast Boy saw. "Cyborg, stitch her up, Raven keep her stable." With that the leader walked over to the two other teens cautiously, not knowing what to expect from them. "You have been altered by a villain scientist, Doctor Element," Robin stated calm and clearly as he approached. "We're not sure exactly he has done to you but-"

The subject that had been labeled as 'Lithium' dropped from his surgical table and struck with a wild, untrained punch. Robin dodged the attack and expertly blocked a second strike. However, upon contact with Lithium, a flare of red-hot energy sparked from the projects skin. Robin took a swift step backward. His cool, reasoned speech had fallen on deaf ears; the altered project before him knew only rage. In contrast, the subject labeled 'Platinum' stood strangely still in the back of the room, not moving beyond the action it took to stand from the table where he previously laid.

Cyborg mended the flayed flesh and skin of Ashley's neck while Raven induced a relaxed state to her mind. Beast Boy joined Robin as Lithium attacked again, raw frustration and confusion on the altered teens face. Every time Lithium made physical contact with Beast Boy or Robin, fire leaped from the impact. This made battling the subject hand-to-hand quite dangerous. However when Starfire threw a starbolt, the chemical reaction was even more extreme, an eruption of flame that burned the air and set fire throughout the basement.

Through the fire Robin saw Platinum and Lithium exit the laboratory through the back door. The leader chased after them as the room burned, driven by his unwavering determination.

"Robin!" Starfire called after him.

"Come on!" Cyborg said to the rest of the team, shouting over the roaring fire. He took Ashley, Project Mercury, in both arms and ran out of the burning room, followed by Beast Boy, Raven, and Starfire. Once outside, Cyborg set Ashley on the floor, transformed his arm cannon into a fire extinguisher, then walked back into the lab to put out the fire.

Starfire hovered over Project Mercury, concern in her eyes. "She will be okay, yes?"

Beast Boy knelt down next to the girl. "Looks fine to me," he said, poking her curiously. "Except for the whole, metal-neck-Frankenstein-thing."

"Do not touch her," Raven groaned. "She needs rest."

Beast Boy stood from the girl just as Robin returned. He stumbled through the door leading to the stairway, clutching a burn on his shoulder. "Rob, you good?" Beast Boy asked him.

"I lost them," Robin growled, focused only on the mission. He walked over to the other Titans. "Where's Cyborg?"

Just then Cyborg exited the burned lab. "Just putting out the fire," he said, transforming his arm back to its base form. "I also recovered some files that should tell us what Doctor Element was up to."

"We still don't know who those kids are," Beast Boy pointed out. He looked down at Ashley. "Were they working with the doctor?"

Raven frowned. "I highly doubt that."

"Here's a start," Robin said, holding up a I.D. card he had gained from chasing after the two projects. "Murakami Academy. They're students."

"Oh, a seeker of knowledge?" Starfire lit with intrigue. "How very interesting."

"Guess we're not leaving her behind," Beast Boy figured. He turned to Robin. "Is she coming with us?"

The Titans looked to their leader and he looked down at Project Mercury. She laid on the floor of the hall in her Murakami uniform, unconscious. Would she be as volatile as the other project had been? Cyborg had said the process had not finished and Raven found that 'something remained' of this subjects personality. However, this was no guarantee that she would be compatible with the team or even willing to help them.

Finally Robin reached a decision. "Yes," he stated. "She's coming with us." Cyborg nodded and picked up Mercury in both arms as Robin began walking, followed by the rest of the Titans. "She could be useful in finding and defeating Doctor Element."


	2. Chemical Bonds

**Chemical Bonds** are the joining of two or more atoms via which chemical compounds are formed.

* * *

Ashley, Project Mercury, woke to fractured sunlight, rays of morning piercing through the blinds near the bed where she laid. She rubbed her tired eyes and looked around the room to find gray walls, a desk with a computer, a bean bag chair, and other furnishings. This movement caused a dull ache in her neck and Ashley stiffened, wincing from the discomfort.

She gingerly touched the back of her neck where she felt a lump of metal protruding, around which her skin was still somewhat raw. The scene of the lab flashed back to her; the harsh light overhead and the horrid cutting she felt in the back of her head.

"No!" Ashley sat up in the bed, shutting her eyes as the experiment replayed in her mind. "Please, stop!" she screamed.

As the vision returned in a flash, it left just a quickly. The altered teen opened her eyes and stared wide-eyed at the floor.

The door to the room slid open and Ashley looked to her left to see Robin enter urgently. "What's wrong?" he asked. After looking around the room he noticed, one, Mercury was not in danger, maybe she had a bad dream or something, and two, she was only wearing underwear. "Forgive me," he said, averting his eyes.

"Your uniform had blood on it," Robin explained as he walked into the room. Starfire had changed the girl out of her burned and bloody uniform. "We found your backpack in the basement though," Robin said, handing the bag to Mercury.

Ashley only realized her state of undress because of Robin's reaction. Compared to what happened yesterday, being a bit exposed in front of a boy wasn't the biggest deal. "Thanks," Ashley said.

She unzipped the bag and rummaged around inside, finding most of what she expected to be there, then pulled out a fresh blouse and dress skirt to clothe herself. That extra uniform policy was useful after all.

"I am Robin, leader of the Teen Titans," Robin said once she was dressed. "This is our tower, where we survey the city and hang out between missions."

"Oh yeah..." Ashley said as she fixed her tie, the same shade of blue as her skirt. "I've heard of you." She took her hairbrush from her bag next and proceeded to brush her hair. Her brunette locks fell to her shoulders, just long enough to cover the unsightly hunk of steel within her neck.

"We found you during our most recent encounter with Doctor Element, an evil scientist and physicist with goals that are currently unknown," Robin explained further. "Do you remember anything about your time with him or the events leading up to that?"

Ashley titled her head, trying to think past the mechanical whirring in the back of her mind. "I went on a field trip with some classmates..." she began. Thinking back to just yesterday should not have been that hard but it was. "We were volunteering for an applied research program, honor students only."

"Good, that's something I can work with," Robin said, mentally recording the info for later. "Anything else?"

"I can't..." Ashley's words faded away from her. "There's this 'clicking' in my head..."

"Cyborg is figuring out what exactly the implant does," Robin assured her. "Until then, the rest of the Titans are in the living room. They'll be glad to see you awake," he said. At least one would. One would likely not care in the slightest.

Ashley sighed, looking at Robin with her blue eyes. His mask only stared blankly in return. "I want to go home," she said.

Robin shook his head. "That's not a good idea," he stated. "Doctor Element might be able to track the implant. That would put your family in danger; the same for your classmates if you go back to school."

"Fine," Ashley huffed. "Whatever."

"I'm going back to help Cyborg with the files," Robin said as he walked with Ashley out of the guest room. He stopped in the hall and turned to her. "We'll call you when we find something."

Ashley watched as Robin headed for the elevator, eventually boarding the lift and leaving her alone in the hall. Behind her she heard banter from the other Titans Robin had mentioned as well as a television playing in the living room. Robin had rejected her desires to go home, so while he and Cyborg worked on what they found at the scene, there wasn't much else she could do besides meet the others. She walked down the hall toward the voices.

"Our new friend joins us," Starfire greeted. "If only our meeting had been on more pleasant circumstances." She drank from a glass filled with a yellow, strangely thick substance.

Ashley looked on with confusion. "Is that... mustard?"

"Indeed it is," Starfire replied. "The most delicious of beverages!"

"Wow..." Ashley muttered, wondering if the experiment had induced hallucinations as well. "What happened to me?"

Beast Boy, once laying up-side-down on the couch, turned upright. "An evil doctor scientist implanted you with a neuro-appliance-thing on the back of your head," he said.

Starfire gave Ashley a sheepish grin. "Perhaps friend Cyborg could explain it more accurately..."

Beast Boy gave the Tamaranian a look. "Hey, what's wrong with how I said it?"

"Everything," Raven droned, floating on the other side of the room, legs crossed, eyes glowing with magic.

"Whatev, dudes," Beast Boy shrugged. He turned to Ashley. "So, Mercury, right? What's the deal?"

"Mercury? Wha-" Ashley began, confused. "Oh, that's me," she realized. The word had been carved into her thoughts during the procedure. However, that wasn't her name. "My actual name is Ashley."

"Oh, my bad," Beast Boy said, grabbing the remote before he flopped back on the couch. "But you gotta admit, 'Mercury' for a codename is kinda sweet."

"Yeah, it has certain ring I guess," Ashley conceded. "I've never needed a codename before."

Beast Boy flipped through channels on the tv. "Well you definitely need one if you're gonna hang with us."

"Hang with you?" Ashley asked. She dropped onto the couch beside Beast Boy. "I'm just a regular girl..."

"Please, Ashley, do increase your amount of cheer," Starfire said, smiling. "Everyone has their importance in some way."

Starfire had been the first person Ashley saw upon being removed from Doctor Element's machine. Even seeing her know, in a more conscious state, was... magical? Ashley couldn't explain it. Starfire was just so welcoming. The other Titans had expressed similar sentiments but, among them, Starfire was the most sincere.

"Star, it's Mercury, remember?" Beast Boy insisted.

"Of course, Mercury," Starfire corrected. "Welcome!" Ashley returned the smile and her eyes lingered on Starfire until Beast Boy spoke again.

"I'm Beast Boy, the best butt-kicker you'll ever meet," he said, introducing himself with the highest of accolades. "...and this is Starfire. She's happy and stuff. Also she's an alien."

 _Maybe that's why her beauty is out of this world?_ Ashley mused. She could let herself out.

She turned to Raven meditating on the other side of the room. "What about her?"

Beast Boy shrugged. "That's Raven, she doesn't talk much."

"He means I do not engage in idle chatter," The white glow faded from Raven's eyes, replaced with her gray irises that fixed on Ashley to haunting effect. "On matters of substance, we may converse."

Ashley sat still on the couch in the seconds afterward, wondering how to react to that.

"Yeah..." Beast Boy said into the silence. He elbowed Ashley to get her attention."Anyway, you hungry?" he asked. "We have some cold pizza."

Ashley nodded; she hadn't eaten anything since yesterday morning. "The breakfast of champions," she joked. "Don't mind if I do."

Beast Boy jumped from the couch and waved for Ashley to follow him to the kitchen. Ashley joined him, looking around the Tower as she walked to meet the shifter at the fridge. Outside she saw the skyline of the city and the body of water that separated the Tower from the mainland. From this vantage, the city seemed to glitter in the morning light.

"Mercury, were those other youths friends of yours?" Starfire asked from the couch. "The ones on the tables?"

"Not really," Ashley spoke over her shoulder while Beast Boy pulled the pizza box from the fridge. "I didn't know them but I knew of them, y'know?" she explained before grabbing a slice.

"I see," Starfire said. "I truly hope that they might make a swift recovery as you have."

Ashley took a bite of the cheesy pizza and considered what Starfire said. After that horrible experience in the laboratory, Ashley was just glad to have all her limbs at this point. She still had all her senses and could still think properly. Well, except for the clicking in her head.

"Maybe they will?" Ashley wondered. She had no idea what the doctor had done to her fellow students. "I mean, I still have this... noise in my head."

"Steady your mind and the whispers will cease," Raven advised.

"It's a weird-brain-chip-thing, right?" Beast Boy asked between bites of pizza. "Not, like, creepy spirits."

"They are alike..." Raven stated cryptically. "More than you know."

"Thanks, Raven," Ashley said. She shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

She finished her slice of pizza then looked at the box, considering another slice. At this time Robin spoke up over Beast Boy's communicator.

"Beast Boy, where's Mercury?" the leader asked, his voice filtered by radio static.

"Right here, dude," Beast Boy replied, pointing to Ashley as if Robin could see.

"Tell her to come to the surveillance room," Robin ordered.

Beast Boy looked at Ashley. "You heard him."

"Yeah," she said quietly, hesitant to know the grisly details of what had been done to her. Still, it was something she needed to do. She took a few steps then stopped, realizing she had no idea where she needed to go. "Where is that, again?"

"You need only to ascend to the level directly above," Starfire told her.

Ashley did as she suggested, taking the nearby stairway up to the surveillance level. She reached the upper floor quickly and the door slid open to reveal a collection of monitors along the walls, all covering a different section of the city. Cyborg and Robin stood at a console in front of a central monitor, the whole room bathed in a steely blue glow.

"Good, you're here," Robin said, before stepping away from the console. "Stand there," he instructed as Cyborg also moved away.

Ashley eyed them and slowly approached the console. "Um... okay."

Once Ashley was in position, Cyborg proceeded to scan her from head to toe, typing occasionally on the buttons of his forearm. A series of beeps sounded from the scanning device that extended from his arm. "Yeah, she's emitting a mental frequency far outside of her body," he commented as if this phenomenon was expected."It's been tuned to interact with matter on the molecular level."

"The implant on the back of your neck is a neural stimulant," Robin informed Ashley as Cyborg continued to scan her. "The data from the laboratory states that this amplification will extend the range at which the projects mind can deliver and manipulate electrical charges."

As the two of them went on about molecules and charges, Ashley scratched her head. "I'm... not really following," she admitted. "What does mean for me?"

"You, Project Mercury, were given an extended neural signature tuned to the chemical element, Mercury," Cyborg explained more clearly.

"Fitting," Ashley commented. Doctor Element was nothing if not thematic.

Cyborg raised a brow, checking his data. "However the range of this signature is huge. It can affect nearly any metal or metallic substance," he stated. He looked at Mercury. "You may be able to manipulate any metal as if it were mercury, the only liquid metal-"

"Wait, 'manipulate metal'?" Ashley interrupted. "Where did that come from?"

"A side-effect, or perhaps the purpose of the Doctor's project, has likely given you superhuman abilities," Robin said.

Ashley's jaw dropped. "You can't be serious..." she expressed, awestruck. "Whoa."

In contrast to Ashley's amazement, Robin remained grounded. "Until we know how the powers effect you, you will need to train with caution," he went on. "However, if your abilities are effective without being harmful, you may be able to assist the Titans more... directly."

"I will need time to analyze her mercurial frequency," Cyborg told Robin. He looked at Ashley afterward. "We don't know what else it allows you to do."

"For now we need to figure out Doctor Element's next move," Robin directed. "You mentioned a field trip before?"

Ashley nodded. "Yeah, we were volunteering at the college for applied research..." she looked down. "...or so we thought." She cleared her throat. "I was with the first group. There was another trip for group two."

"Another group?" Robin repeated. More students were in danger. "When is their trip?" he asked urgently.

Ashley tried to remember the scheduling for the trips. So much had happened since then.

"They were back-to-back," she told Robin. "Ours was yesterday, so theirs would be... today."


	3. Particle Decay

**Particle Decay** is similar in concept to radioactive decay, where atomic nuclei become lighter and emit radiation.

* * *

Cyborg looked at Robin. "We have to stop more students from becoming projects."

Robin nodded. "You're right." He turned to Ashley. "Were both trips going to the same place? The college?"

"Yes," she said.

Robin turned urgently, his cape whipping behind. "Let's go," he said as he walked to the door of the surveillance room. Cyborg followed the leader out to the stairway and Mercury assumed she was meant to follow as well, jogging to catch up to the two male heroes.

"Suit up," Robin instructed shortly after reaching the lounge area on the floor below. The other Titans looked up from what they were doing. "More students are headed to the college today. We need to get there first."

Beast Boy clicked off the tv as Robin walked through the living room. Mercury watched as Starfire floated over to Robin, joining him in where ever he was going.

"I'll get the car," Cyborg announced. "Meet me in the garage," he said. He looked down at Mercury briefly before running off.

Mercury looked around the room. Only Beast Boy and Raven remained.

"Where's the garage?" she asked Beast Boy.

The shifter stood from the couch and walked over to Ashley. "I'll show you," he said.

He started walking for the elevator and Ashley followed him but stopped short, noticing Raven was still reading a book, not preparing for the mission like everyone else. "Is she coming?" Ashley asked.

Beast Boy waved a hand, not even bothering to look back. "Ya, she'll catch up," he said.

Mercury watched Raven for a second longer then ran to join Beast Boy.

The silvery doors of the Tower's elevator slid open and Mercury looked to see a drab, cement-gray garage and a whitish -blue car parked in the distance directly ahead. She jogged out towards the car a decent stretch away while Beast Boy morphed into a dog and ran ahead. Beast Boy climbed into the car, still in dog form, while Cyborg was already inside in the drivers seat.

"BB and Merc are here," he called to Robin, who stood with arms folded at the mouth of an underground street, strips of white light crisscrossing across an otherwise gloomy tunnel.

Starfire, who sat on the hood of the car, turned to look at Cyborg inside. "Yes, but what about Raven?" she asked.

Just then, the shadow of a pillar in the garage warped unnaturally, twisting into the shape of hooded figure. Mercury looked on in fright, thinking she saw four eyes within the hood until she look again and saw only two.

"I have arrived," Raven stated plainly.

Robin turned from the tunnel and walked back to the car. "Good," he said as he dropped into the front passenger seat. "Everyone get in or fly or whatever."

Cyborg switched the car on, the high-tech engine flaring to life with a futuristic sound, and Starfire hovered herself away from the vehicle as Ashley got in the backseat with Beast Boy. Seconds later, the T-Car tore through the tunnel leading to Jump City, strips of white streaking overhead and dual trails of red in their wake.

Robin was exiting the T-Car seconds before the vehicle came to a sharp stop just outside the parking lot of the college where the Titans had fought Doctor Element just yesterday. He scanned the area and found there was a handful of other cars in the lot and a bus parked nearer to the entrance. Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Mercury stepped out of the car shortly afterward. Mercury walked over to Robin, who had jogged a ways toward to building already.

"That's a bus from my school," she said, recognizing it immediately.

The other titans joined them them, including Starfire and Raven. They walked together as a group with Robin as the tip of the spear.

"They are already inside," Raven said.

"Ya, there's no one on the bus, dude." Beast Boy noticed.

Robin began sprinting at that realization and the team picked up the pace as well. "Cyborg, scan the building," Robin ordered. "Find where Doctor Element is set up!"

Cyborg raised his forearm and proceeded to look for any technology, machinery, or other such things that stood out.

"Mercury, if you see any of your classmates, tell them to go back to the bus and leave!" Robin said.

Ashley ran with the rest of the group into the college and down the hall. "Right," she affirmed weakly, hugely unfamiliar with this sort of responsibility and comradery. The only thing that even vaguely resembled this was a team scavenger hunt she did with some friends at the academy. It paled in comparison.

Cyborg located an anomaly in his scan as they ran and the Titans made their way towards it. If this was the destination of the second Murakami field trip, they would find the students on their way to the suspicious area as well. Sure enough, as they rounded the corner, the Titans met with a group of students dressed in the same uniforms as Ashley and the two other projects from before, formal attire in various shades of white, black, and blue.

Robin gave Mercury a look then waved for the Titans to follow him. Mercury nodded and slowed to a jog then finally a walk as the Titans ran on.

"Hey, stop!" she called to her classmates.

"Ashe?" a boy from the group asked. Ashley recognized him from school. "What are you doing here?" His name was... Brandon? No, Bradley.

Ashley shrugged, unwilling to explain everything leading to this moment. She settled on "It's complicated..."

Another student from the group watched Robin and the others continue down the hall. "Yo, was that the Teen Titans?"

"Yeah, we're here to stop an evil doctor," Ashley said, realizing only after that she had subconsciously included herself as one of the Titans. It was probably too early for such a leap. She returned to explaining the doctor. "He's been taking students for experiments; the field trip isn't safe."

Bradley stepped closer to Ashley while the other students waited in the hall. "We heard maybe something went wrong," he said, in a lowered voice. "You and a few others didn't make it back. Are you alright?"

Ashley cleared her throat and looked away from the boy. "I've been better."

Bradley made a face. "So it's not safe?" he asked. "Maybe you should come back to school with us?"

"I can't. That might bring danger to the school," Ashley said, repeating Robin's logic. Only now, looking at her classmates, did she realize how much sense that made. "I'm helping the Titans find the doctor and stop him," she said.

"Alright..." Bradley resigned. He clearly wanted to say more but Ashley's mind was made up. Something was different about her. "Call me on campus if you get a chance."

Ashley half-way smiled. "We'll see," she said before turning to run down the hallway to join the Titans. From behind she heard Bradley telling the other students to go back to the bus. It was for their own good.

On her way to the room that Cyborg found, Ashley wondered about this plan of Robin's. If this trip was anything like the last, something really dangerous could be waiting for them in the lab. If they were telling the Murakami students to turn away, maybe the Titans shouldn't be going in either?

Of course that was thought of an ordinary person. The Titans were _heroes_.

In pursuit of their to stop evil, they would meet danger head on. If Mercury was going to be traveling and working with them, she would need to adopt a similar attitude. She reached the lab Cyborg discovered in his scan, the entrance to which being a large, circular opening, a ring of polished steel and a key panel forming the edge of said entryway.

Mercury stepped through, ducking her head before looking up to see another laboratory. This one was decidedly more clean, refined, and official than the one she visited in the basement, but there was something odd about it. Cyborg and Robin both stood at a terminal checking the information it held, Raven and Starfire searched the room for any sort of weaponry or trap that might be waiting on them, and Beast Boy stared blankly at a floating sphere in the center of the room.

There were stations set up on various chemical elements, Platinum, Lithium, Zirconium, Chromium, and Hydrogen to be exact. However, a certain furnishing stood out most to Ashley, three metallic tables, each with a console attached. She shivered with an eerie chill.

"Here's the same data we pulled from the previous lab," Cyborg said. "Altered Persons Protocol 4,5, and 6. Project Platinum, and Lithium, and..." Cyborg looked up from the data just as Ashley walked over. "Mercury."

"The students are safe," she told Robin. "They're getting on the bus and going back to school."

"Good," Robin said. "Now we need to find out what Doctor Element had planned for them."

Cyborg returned to the readings. "Looks like he intended on making three more projects today, Zirconium, Chromium, and Hydrogen."

Robin turned to him. "To what end?"

Cyborg only shrugged. "No idea."

"Chromium is highly reactive, like lithium," Ashley offered. "Zirconium is more stable, similar to platinum."

Robin folded his arms and Cyborg checked the data they pulled recently from the terminal. Seemed like they were missing something.

"This is new," Cyborg said. "There are schematics here for a robot: an ION drone."

Robin quickly turned to look at what Cyborg found. "What is it? What does it do?"

Cyborg hacked in a password to access the hidden details of the file. "The 'ION' stands for 'Integrated Oppenheimer-Newton'" Cyborg informed the team. "It appears to be a laboratory assistant, designed to conduct some experiments and contain or dispose of hazardous materials."

A few seconds of silence passed in the room as the Titans collectively thought about the information Cyborg read to them. They had not yet encountered a drone of this type. What else could it do besides assist in a laboratory setting? Did Doctor Element have one of these drones? Would it be a threat if used against them?

"Dudes, what is this?" Beast Boy called to them. In front of him there was a ring of silvery white material suspended in the air atop a cylindrical platform and surrounded by a pale blue containment field that Beast Boy proceeded to poke curiously. "It's, like, in a bubble."

Raven floated over to him. "If you don't know what it is, then maybe you shouldn't touch it."

Suddenly Mercury heard a heavy whirring sound in the ceiling above. It traveled overhead to the back of the room where a large spherical drone broke downward through the ceiling and into the laboratory. At the same time, the entryway to the lab sealed shut, a series of concentric steel panels locking into place behind the Titans.

Mercury noticed two barrel-like ports on the front of the drone which began charging up with electrical energy. "Looks like it was designed to fight as well," she said.

Starfire hovered into place on the other side of Beast Boy. "Perhaps you should take Raven's advice to heart, friend."

"How would I know a deathbot was in the ceiling?" Beast Boy said, watching the massive drone, four feet in all dimensions, as it's ports locked onto him.

"Doesn't matter," Robin said as he and Cyborg joined the other Titans, forming a line facing the drone. "Get rid of it."

The drone struck first, firing two streams of electricity at Beast Boy before he had the chance to morph. The shifter was thrown back as Starfire loosed a flurry a starbolts at the drone. It deployed a deflector shield to intercept the attack then repositioned the barrier to block Cyborg's sonic cannon.

Robin rushed the drone and gave it a beating with his staff, hitting hard enough fracture its frontal screen and leave dents in its polished metal surface. However, when the drone fired its front ports again, he caught the full brunt of the blast, collapsing on the floor of the lab just as Beast Boy had. However, thanks to Robin's attack, when Cyborg fired his cannon a second time, the attack hit the drone to devastating effect. A shower of sparks erupted from the machine and a gaping hole was left in its hull, sparking wires hanging from the wound.

Raven stepped up next and inserted a shadowy glob of her dark energy into the hole Cyborg's attack left behind. She raised her hand and the unholy power swelled within the drone, making it twitch and writhe wickedly. Finally Raven closed her hand into a fist, her eyes flashed white, and an eruption of black energy exploded within the machine, ripping the drone to shreds from the inside.

Bits of gnarled metal rained around Raven as she relaxed her hand, sparks and shrapnel scattering away from her.

Starfire helped Robin to his feet and Cyborg did the same for Beast Boy. Just as the drone was destroyed, the containment field dissipated from around the mysterious silvery ring, which fell out of suspension to land on the platform at the center of the room.

"Guess that drone was a _shock_?" Mercury offered. Starfire smiled weakly but the other Titans seemed far from amused. "The door shut when the drone came down." she said, getting back to the situation at hand. They were locked in.

Raven turned over her shoulder, looking at the Titans through the shadows of her eyes. "Does anyone else feel that?" she groaned.

Mercury raised a brow. She didn't feel anything strange, outside of the clicking in her head, which had been there since last night. Beast Boy however, seemed to know what Raven meant.

"Ya, dudes, I don't feel too good," he said, clutching his head.

Cyborg opened the panel on his arm and scanned the room. "Radiation," he announced, his forearm bleeping quicker as he walked closer to the source. He looked down to see the silver ring which was now rapidly oxidizing with a dull white coating. "It's plutonium!"

Mercury gasped. She had heard of instances of radiation, but to be face-to-face with it was frightening. "Maybe the drone was containing it before?" That was the only thing she could think of. It had been inside an energy field when they first entered the lab.

"Figure it out later!" Robin said, screaming over the emergency alarm that started. "Get out! Now!"

However, there was only one entrance/exit for the laboratory: the same blast door that was now sealed with several layers of steel. Cyborg walked up to the circular door and searched for the access panel. "The panel is on the outside!" he realized. "I can't hack it."

Seconds under the radiation felt eternally long for the Titans, alarms blaring overhead, red lights painting the walls of the laboratory. Beast Boy fell first, his unstable DNA being the most vulnerable to this form of attack. Raven was next, bitterly fighting the toxic effects on her body until she could do so no longer.

Mercury just looked on as Starfire flew up to the door and fired a barrage of blazing green energy to no avail. She shouted and charged up another blast then flung it with all her might. The charged attack left a spot of glowing orange in its wake. It would take forever for Starfire to break the door herself.

Robin dropped to one knee. "Not... not like this," he growled, coughing up blood.

Cyborg was kneeling as well, but still conscious, his half-machine body more resistant to radiation, and Starfire, being an alien, was outright immune. Strangely, Mercury still stood as well, fully aware of everything around her and feeling only the slightest bit ill.

Starfire whipped back to see Mercury just standing there. "Assist me, Mercury!" Starfire insisted, her eyes aflame with green energy. "Our friends are not well!"

"Starfire!" Mercury called to the Tamaranian. "How can I..." Before she could ask, Starfire had gone back to blasting the door. Mercury looked at the downed Titans, hopeless. "I don't have any p-"

Oh wait.

Mercury looked at her hands and was suddenly reminded of what Cyborg and Robin had said in the surveillance room. Well, there wouldn't be any chance to test or train with this power of 'maybe-possibly-manipulating-metal-somehow'. She would just have to get it her best shot.

So she did just that. Mercury walked past Robin and Cyborg, ducked under Starfire, then raised her hand toward the circular plate door standing between life and death for her newfound allies. She focused her will and her purpose and her every thought into the wall of layered steel in front of her and, like magic, the polished slate steel liquefied, metal falling away in sheets like water from an ice sculpture. Mercury felt the implant in the back of her head straining the muscles of her neck and spine, but endured the pain in order to remove the door. Within five seconds the blast door was a puddle of metallic, grayish-black ooze.

"Glorious!" Starfire exclaimed. She quickly went back to pick up Beast Boy and Raven from inside the laboratory. Cyborg crawled out of the laboratory on his own and Mercury turned to offer a hand to Robin.

"Why didn't you do that at first?" the leader growled, taking her hand.

Mercury made a face. "I didn't know I could."

Robin got to his feet and wiped blood from his face. "Your hesitation could've got us killed," he said as he walked out with Mercury. Starfire exited the radioactive laboratory with Raven and Beast Boy in either arm.

"We got out," Cyborg said, clearly relieved. He looked back at the lab. "But that radiation is gonna spread to the rest of the building."

Mercury lit with an idea. "Plutonium is a metal, right?" she said. "Maybe I could destroy it."

Robin nodded. "It's worth a shot," he encouraged. "Do it."

Mercury took a deep breath then turned around, donning a mask of bravery and walking back into the laboratory, which dripped with hellish radio waves. There Mercury confirmed that she did not suffer the same effects are Robin, Beast Boy, and Raven. She had some sort of resistance, higher than Cyborg's but lesser than Starfire's.

Mercury walked to the center of the room where the ring of plutonium rested. She targeted the ring with her power, then rose her hand, causing the ring to follow that motion, rising from the ground up to her eye level. There, she tried to 'melt' the plutonium just as she had done to the steel blast door. Being a largely different substance, the material flaked apart instead of 'melting' but everything seemed to be going fine. That is, until the ring of plutonium became exceedingly hot in a matter of seconds.

Again, Mercury felt the use of her powers triggering the implant attached to her nervous system. She felt a headache coming on just as the ring began to glow white-hot. Finally the ring of plutonium exploded and Mercury tumbled back through the lab as a radioactive fireball tore through the room. The lights shattered overhead, glass raining down in darkness as Mercury gathered her senses. The flare of light left her blind for the moment and the deafening blast left her void of hearing, a sharp ringing in her ears instead.

"Mercury, are you injured?"

When her eyes adjusted and her hearing returned, she found that she had not been mortally wounded. Starfire kneeled down in front of her as she returned from her daze. Mercury had hit her back pretty hard on the wall and there was the stray bit of glass in her arms or legs but nothing she would die from.

"Yeah, thanks," Mercury said, taking Starfire's hand. She got to her feet and noticed the tiny bit sickness she felt from the radiation was gone. Unfortunately, as Mercury exited the lab with Starfire, she found the Titans were still suffering from the radiation poisoning.


	4. Metallic Bond

A **Metallic Bond** is the sharing of electrons within a field of charged ions. This accounts for the defining properties of metal.

* * *

Beast Boy and Raven laid unconscious in the hallway just outside the college laboratory and Robin barely clung to his awareness, slumped against the wall with unsightly sores forming under his skin. Cyborg checked the vitals of the team to grim results, still functional due to the mechanical elements of his body. Mercury averted her eyes as she and Starfire walked up to the rest of the Titans

"There's no way that was setup just for some students," Robin said between labored breaths. "He knew we were coming," he insisted. He turned to Cyborg. "Where is he? Where is Doctor Element?!"

"We don't know," Cyborg replied. "There's no mention of anything that could be his base or hideout."

"There must be!" Robin shouted, coughing blood immediately afterward. "We have to find him now!"

"No, man, these notes are on the projects and the drone, that's it!" Cyborg returned. "Besides, we're in no shape to fight right now."

Robin stood from the wall and began limping down the hall. "The rest of you head back to the Tower," he instructed. "I'll go on."

Starfire flew to catch up to him. "I do not think that is a good idea," she said seconds before the leader dropped to all fours with a grunt. "Robin!" she cried. She lowered to pick him up as Cyborg walked over to Beast Boy's downed form.

"The radiation is getting worse," Cyborg said as he lowered to take his friend in both arms. "Merc, grab Raven," he said before making his way down the hall.

Mercury was hesitant for a second but now was not the time for deliberation. She knelt down beside the fallen sorceress and knew, without doubt, that Raven would hugely disapprove of this degree of contact. Though the severity of the situation could possibly afford her an exception. Mercury carried Raven and followed Cyborg and Starfire out of the college and back to the T-Car. There they placed their wounded allies before Cyborg and Mercury entered the car and Starfire flew alongside to return to the Tower.

* * *

Mercury set Raven down on a bed much like the one Robin and Beast Boy now rested on in the medical level of the Titan Tower. Oddly it was the mysterious sorceress who seemed at peace while Beast Boy and Robin still had pain on their face. Mercury stood by the beds and wrung her hands, wishing she could do more, similar to Starfire, who floated in the middle of the white room and looked at her wounded friends. Cyborg, who had also been hit by the radiation, had taken the responsibility of caring for those of the team who weren't resistant; he was only the only who could really.

"We weren't under the radiation that long," Cyborg said as he walked over from a computer terminal, joining Mercury and Starfire in front of the beds. "Any longer and the damage would have been permanent."

Starfire looked at Cyborg. "They will be okay, yes?"

"Yeah, Star," he assured her. "They'll be fine."

"I'm sorry I didn't-" Mercury stammered, thinking back to the lab. "I never used or even had a superpower before..."

"We made it out, that's what matters," Cyborg said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get to work."

"Take care of them, friend," Starfire pleaded.

"I will," Cyborg said before turning to treat Robin first. Suddenly he looked back, remembering something. "One thing, shower and burn your clothes: they're irradiated."

"Um, okay?" Mercury said before following Starfire out of the medical room. It sounded strange at first but Cyborg seemed to know what he was talking about. He was the one to first mention her ability to control metal. That should have been on her mind ever since that moment, how could you forget about a superpower? Mercury shook her head. She felt sick, and not because of the radiation.

"Great, this is my last uniform," Mercury sighed. Another complication, though this one was decidedly less dire than the others.

"Come to my room of the bed after your shower," Starfire said. She looked at Ashley up and down. "I believe my clothing would fit your form."

Mercury turned to Starfire as they walked to the lift that would take them to the floor where the lounge and bedrooms were. "Oh, thanks," she said.

Soon Mercury reached the room she stayed in last night and stopped, waving at Starfire as she went further down the hall to go to her own room. Mercury stared after her for a moment longer then entered her room. There, she stripped down, then went to the bathroom to wash off the radiation on her skin. It wasn't bothering her, but it would be harmful to those who weren't resistant, the same went for her clothes.

While in the shower she was wary of the implant at the base of her neck, though after the first five minutes, the device seemed protected against water. Her wounds in that area had healed well in the time that passed, a small blessing. Mercury dried herself then left the bathroom dressed in a towel. She started to go to Starfire's room but stopped to first look at the closet in this room beforehand. Mercury didn't know if anyone had used this room before her; maybe there were some unused clothes around.

She opened the sliding doors of the closet and found an assortment of various suits, capes, and masks. Mercury raised a brow, confused. Yes, the Titans were heroes, but Mercury imagined their random, unwanted clothes would be more... normal? She picked through the collection and found a black wetsuit with dark blue accents that caught her eye. Mercury tried it on and the leathery suit fit rather well. It wasn't the sort of thing she would wear on a regular day, but, then again, nothing had been as it used to be lately.

Mercury looked at herself in the mirror quickly and was pleased with what she found. She shrugged, deeming it good enough, before finally heading out to Starfire's room.

"Hi," Mercury said while peeking inside.

"Hello, friend," Starfire returned. She put on her boots then looked up at Mercury. "I see you have clothed yourself quite exquisitely."

Mercury smirked. "Cool, right?" she said, flexing her arms and legs. "I was bored of that uniform anyway."

She threw her radiated uniform in a pile with Starfire's outfit and Starfire blasted the clothing as Cyborg instructed. Sparks and flames leaped from the clothes and Mercury grabbed a book to beat out the fire before it spread. Starfire jumped up to help her. They laughed and swatted the fire until it was gone, hot ash in its wake.

Mercury looked up at Starfire and their eyes met. Mercury stared for a few seconds longer than she should have at Starfire's vibrant orange skin and glowing green eyes. She swallowed and looked away awkwardly.

"Is something wrong?" Starfire asked, moving back into Mercury's line of sight.

"I, uh-" Mercury's voice came out as barely a whisper. "You're really pretty..."

Starfire blinked. "Yes, you also have pleasant physical features," she replied. She certainly had a way with words.

Still, Mercury felt herself blushing. "I mean, like, I like you." Crushing hard, basically.

Starfire started to say something but fell silent.

It was unlike Star to be speechless, but here she sat next to Mercury on the floor of her room in the Tower not saying anything. When Starfire did not respond at first, Mercury assumed the worst, but when the Tamaranian drew closer and reached out to touch Mercury softly on the shoulder, Mercury didn't know what to think. Her confusion only intensified as Starfire leaned her head in with lips parted.

Starfire kissed her.

An alien heroine just put her lips on Ashley's face. Her mild blush flared to become pure red and her heart rate quickened into a flutter. A ripple of passion traveled down from her face to her neck and shoulders, something like a shiver but warm and sweet instead of cold. Their lips touched for only a few seconds but Mercury imagined it to be a minute or more. When Starfire pulled away, Mercury touched her mouth, looking at Starfire in awe and wonder. "Starfire..." she said, it was her turn to be speechless.

"Oh, that is your meaning," Starfire said, nodding. "We have only just met, Ashley," Starfire said, using her real name unlike the other Titans. "I count you among my friends..."

Talk about mixed signals. Now she was uncertain, again, how Starfire felt. A friend, sure, but the tingle Mercury was feeling from being this close to Starfire was something else. Despite the kiss, the Tamaranian didn't seem to feel the same.

"Wait..." The puzzle returned to Ashely's face. "So... the kiss?"

"My people sometimes use lip contact to exchange information," Starfire explained. "I was unsure of what you meant so..."

Ashley sat across from Starfire on the floor of her room, a plethora of conflicting thoughts and feelings whirling in her mind. Really, lip contact? Ashley wondered about what sort of stimuli would lead to the evolution of such a trait. She then proceeded to wonder if what Starfire said was even true. The Tamaranian undoubtedly reacted to the kiss differently than she did, maybe it didn't mean the same thing for her?

Their moment together was interrupted by Cyborg coming over Starfire's communicator.

"The Titans are back in action!" he announced proudly before going on. "Well, they're conscious at least."

Starfire gasped. "Friends!" She jumped to her feet and took the communication device in her hand. "This is the best of news!"

"Yeah, that's great," Mercury agreed. She would have to talk to Starfire later about... this.

Cyborg returned over the radio. "You two can come back if you want."

Mercury watched Starfire click the device after Cyborg signed off. "Let us join them," Starfire said before floating from her room, followed by Mercury who jogged to catch up.

Just as Mercury and Starfire arrived in the medical room, Robin pushed passed them, leaving. He didn't stop even when Starfire called his name longingly.

"He's always like that, isn't he?" Mercury asked.

Starfire nodded. "It is most unfortunate."

Starfire turned around to go after Robin while Mercury walked into the room where Raven and Beast Boy were. Robin had seemed back to normal in the nanosecond Mercury had seen him while Raven, Beast Boy and Cyborg all appeared better as well.

"I should thank you, Mercury," Raven groaned. "Cyborg told me what you did."

Mercury turned to her. "Oh, you're welcome," she said, pleased to not have angered her. "I mean, you took out the drone!"

Raven shrugged. "It's whatever," she said.

Mercury smiled weakly. "Well, glad I could help," she said before walking over to Beast Boy.

"You good, dude?" she asked, teasing him.

"Yeah, dude. Don't even worry-" he began before realizing. "Wait, 'dude' is my word, dude."

Mercury laughed and offered Beast Boy a fistbump. The shifter returned the gesture, raising his hand. Upon contact, his hand morphed rapidly into the paw of a bear and back again.

"Whoa, dude!" Mercury cried out, scared by the random bear hand.

"Yeah, dude..." Beast Boy looked down at his hands. "I don't know what's the deal with that." He looked over to Cyborg. "Cy, what's up?"

"Because of your highly variable DNA, the radiation has made your body even more unstable," Cyborg informed him. "You should avoid trying to morph for a few days."

"Aw, no way!" Beast Boy protested. "What if that Element guy shows up again?" he flopped back on the bed. "Dude, that sucks."

"Sorry, Beast Boy," Mercury said, feeling somewhat responsible. "I hope you get better."

"I'll try to find a fix," Cyborg said. "But if Doctor Element shows up before I do, Beast Boy won't be able to fight," he continued. He turned to Mercury. "Can you tell that to Robin?"

"Sure," Mercury said.

She took a step backward, looking at Beast Boy, as Cyborg prepared another test. Beast Boy was bummed clearly but he still had a good attitude about it. Also with his best friend Cyborg things weren't looking bad at all. Mercury turned to find that Raven had left already and finally left as well. The way Robin left so swiftly led Mercury to believe he wasn't just going back to his room on the lounge floor. She walked up to the stairway instead, the only other place she knew of being the surveillance room; maybe Robin was there?

Mercury looked into the room but did not find the Titans leader among the glowing screens and consoles. She noticed one of the monitors was blank on the far wall and couldn't help but walk over to it. Curious, since every other screen in the control center was streaming a live feed from an important location in the city, a main highway, bank, or some such. Mercury glanced around the room again, already guilty in her mind, before she clicked on the monitor.

The screen flickered with sharp white noise before revealing a masked figure, one half of his face covered in polished bronze, the other half pure black and void of features. The figure raised a pistol to the camera and Mercury flinched away from the screen before she heard a gunshot. The shot was followed by static and Mercury looked from between her fingers to see digital snow buzzing on the monitor. She clicked off the display just as she heard footsteps her behind. Mercury spun in time to see Robin enter the control center.

"Robin!" she said louder than intended. She cleared her throat, nervous. "I, uh, I was just looking for you. Yeah."

"Why?"

"Oh, it's about Beast Boy," Mercury explained. "The radiation made him unable to control his forms."

"Is it permanent?" Robin asked.

Mercury shook her head. "No, Cyborg said it would last a few days."

"Anything else?"

Mercury began to ask about him and Starfire but decided not to. Just from her short time at the tower, Mercury gathered that Starfire cared a lot about Robin. Robin on the other hand seemed not to care much about anyone. Maybe he just expressed himself differently? He had been kind to Mercury when she first woke at the Tower, she couldn't forget that.

"I guess not," Mercury said finally.

Robin nodded. "About the plutonium, it exploded," he said, quickly returning to business.

Mercury scratched her head. "Oh, in the lab? Yeah, I don't know what happened."

"I do," Robin said. "I think you caused it."

Mercury blinked. What did he mean by that? "Well, yeah, I wanted to break it down so it wouldn't radiate anymore," she reminded him. She wasn't trying to protect people, not hurt them. "I didn't know it would blow up."

Robin walked over to the center console, the same console he and Cyborg used to scan her and identify her powers. "The implant enhances your mind, allowing you to affect metal," he stated, typing on the console. "This could affect temperature as well."

"Are you sure?" Mercury asked. She thought about how the radioactive material grew so hot so quickly that it erupted in flame. "That would make sense I guess..."

Robin left the center console and walked to a wall display. "Let's not have a repeat of the lab," he said as he ripped one of the larger monitors off of the wall. "You need to know what you can and can't do." He carried the screen over and dropped the device at Mercury's feet.

Mercury raised a brow, looking down. "Aren't these computers kinda important?" She looked up to see Robin clearly not caring about that right now.

"Do it," he ordered.

Mercury shrugged and opened her hand, aiming down at the blank screen, directing her enhanced field of influence. The monitor promptly began to 'melt' just as the blast door from the lab, liquefying into silvery-black goo but still remaining at room temperature. Next she levitated the metal of the appliance, making it rise until several feet off the ground.

There she tried actively warming the metallic ooze that she wielded. Her neural implant reacted, altering the frequency she delivered to manipulate the temperature of the metal and its immediate surroundings. The metal grew visibly warm, glowing red and then bright orange. When the heat reached her and the reddish shine of the hot metal overpowered the cool blue of the control center, Robin took a step backward.

Mercury realized then that she needed to turn down the heat. Could she even do that? Did this hidden power over temperature work both ways? There was only one way to find out. She switched her thoughts to cooling the metal and again the implant switched in her head like a natural reflex, rapidly lowering the temperature. The heat-glow faded and the hunk of metal settled into a cold, glossy sphere. Mercury pulled the metallic orb towards her and it landed in her waiting hand, chilled to the touch.

"Huh, that's cool," Mercury mused. She looked at Robin. "Get it? 'Cool'?" Robin did not react.

"You're welcome," he said. After all, he was the cause of her exploring this extension to her power.

Mercury shook her head with mock annoyance. "Thanks, fearless leader," she teased. She walked over to one of the surveillance screens and touched the back of her neck as she watched nothing of importance happening in the city. There was an odd pressure in the back of her head, no doubt caused by the use of her powers in a new way. The clicking had become a steady whir which was louder but weirdly less intrusive thanks it being a constant sound. She clearly needed more practice at ignoring it like Raven suggested.

A 'Breaking News' alarm flashed across the monitor she was watching, a swathe of red seizing her attention.

"Robin, look at this," Mercury said, pointing at the screen, which showed two superpowered males fighting police in the street. "Are those the other projects from the first lab?"

Robin walked up beside Mercury. "Yes, that's them," he growled. "Look, there," he pointed at a different monitor, another alert taking over the typical news. "There's more radiation in the east of the city."


	5. Control Variable

A **Control Variable** is the factor that is never changed during an experiment. This allows other variables to be better understood.

* * *

With the projects stirring up trouble in one part of the city and a dangerous amount of radiation in another, the Titans needed to spring into action. Robin ran out of the surveillance room and Mercury followed him, still carrying the metallic sphere from her power testing session.

"We'll have to split up," Robin said. "You and Starfire go investigate the radiation," he told her. "You're the only ones that can survive it."

Mercury raced down the stairs alongside Robin. "What about you?" she asked.

"Raven and Cyborg will come with me to deal with the projects," Robin said.

They burst from the stairway into the lounge room where Beast Boy was watching TV. "Where's Cyborg?" he asked.

"In his room," Beast Boy said. "That's where Raven is too," he added, sitting up. "Is there trouble?"

"Yeah, but if you can't change, you can't come," Robin said harshly. He turned to Mercury. "Here, take my communicator. Call Starfire and head out." Robin took his comm from his belt and tossed in her direction.

"Right," she said, fumbling the device. She picked up the comm as Robin ran off. "Got it."

Mercury set her ball of metal on the counter of the kitchen beside her then clicked on the communicator.

"Go. Away."

"Oh, sorry, Raven!" Mercury squealed before turning the knob to find the right channel. "Starfire?"

"Yes, friend Mercury?"

"There's trouble," Mercury said. "More radiation." Where was Starfire right now anyway? "Meet on the ground floor?" Mercury offered.

"Certainly!" Starfire agreed. "But what about the others?"

"The police found the other projects," Mercury informed. "Robin, Cyborg, and Raven are going to take them down."

"And Beast Boy?" Starfire asked.

Mercury looked over at Beast Boy and he just shrugged. "He's on the bench for now."

"But we are needed, yes?" Starfire asked, clearly not understanding. "Why has he chosen to sit on a bench at this time?"

Mercury made a face, confused. "What?" she asked.

"She's an alien," Beast Boy reminded Mercury.

Mercury closed her eyes and sighed. "Just me on the first floor, okay?"

"I shall," Starfire concluded.

Mercury clipped the communicator to the side of her wetsuit. Weird, Robin didn't even mention her attire when he saw her. Either she was fitting in more with the Titans or it just wasn't important. With the comm secure, Mercury picked up the metal ball from the counter top. Metal was her power, right? She didn't want to just trash the ball when it could be useful later.

Still, there had to be a better way to transport the metal she wasn't currently using. Maybe jewelry? From the corner of her eye Mercury saw Starfire flying outside of the Tower's windows. Mercury needed to hurry up. She liquefied the metal and split the liquid into two halves then coated each arm in a hard silver shell. It was a bit of extra weight on her arms but her hands were free and that's what mattered. She ran back into the stairway and descended down to the ground level.

Mercury exited the Tower and ran out to stand on the island where the Tower stood, lush greenery surrounding her and the crystal waters of Jump City even beyond that. Starfire was there already, looking at the city. She turned to look at Mercury as the metal-user approached.

"Mercury," Starfire said, eyes drawn to the steely coating around Mercurys forearms. "Your arms..."

"Oh this? I'm fine," Mercury said. She flexed her fingers to show Starfire. "It's just some metal that might come in handy." Mercury pulled the comm from her hip and clicked to pull up a map of the city. "This is where the radiation is coming from." Mercury showed Starfire the map.

"Very well. We should be going then," Starfire said. She looked up from the comm and Mercury found herself lost in Starfire's blazing green eyes. "Are you ready?" the Tamaranian asked as she floated up from the ground.

Mercury watched Starfire begin to fly. "Um, yeah?" she said, curiously. Starfire wasn't going to leave without her, was she?

"Excellent!" Starfire exclaimed. She swooped down to grab Mercury under her arms. Mercury watched the ground rapidly fall away from her as Starfire rose high into the sky. Finally, Mercury closed her eyes as they flew over to the open water. The wind rushed around her and Mercury's only option was to hang in Starfire hands and try to be still should she wouldn't fall.

After the initial shock, Mercury calmed and was able to appreciate the rare freedom of soaring through the air, not limited to the ground, not bound by a vehicle. Was this the wonder that Starfire felt whenever she took to the skies? Mercury figured the other group, Robin, Cyborg, and Raven, would take the T-Car, and wondered how she and Starfire would get to their destination. Mercury was glad that getting to fly with Starfire was the solution.

In the distance Mercury saw an abandoned building, and noticed it was on the coast as opposed to further into the city. Starfire lowered toward the location, this was their destination. The ground grew closer and closer until Starfire set Mercury gently down on the cracked, overgrown parking lot in front of the building.

Starfire continued on flying for a few feet and Mercury walked up to her as she landed. They walked toward the decrepit building, sections of brick missing from the walls of the structure. As she drew closer, Mercury could feel the radiation. She felt the slightest bit queasy but ignored the feeling, focused on the mission.

They still didn't know what was here causing the radiation. Mercury started to ask Starfire but the Tamaranian seemed to share the same hint of uncertainty she had. Scaly vines snaked through broken windows on the outside of the building, possibly an old library, but inside they found a smaller structure, slate gray metal on the outside with a sliding door and key panel.

"An elevator?" Mercury said.

Starfire looked at her. "Perhaps the radiation is located underneath the ground."

"Yeah, maybe," Mercury agreed.

Mercury clicked on the panel and the door slid open. She hesitantly boarded the lift and Starfire followed. There was a moment of silence between them, only the drone of the elevator sounding around them. Mercury looked over at Starfire while the Tamaranian looked ahead, focused on the task at hand. Mercury's focus was elsewhere, on Starfire and Robin, the bond they shared. There was something between them and Mercury oddly felt like she was looking in on them from the outside.

"Why did Robin leave the room so quickly?" Mercury asked, curious but also envious of her.

"He wanted some time to think alone," Starfire explained. "I wanted to make sure he was okay."

Mercury sighed. "You care a lot about him"

Starfire looked at Mercury, sincerity in her eyes. "I care deeply for all of my friends, you included."

"You know what I mean," Mercury said, giving Starfire a look. "Do you love him?"

Starfire looked away. "I do not think that is much of your business."

"So that's a yes," Mercury decided, somewhat bitter. "Did you kiss him too?"

"Yes," Starfire folded her arms. "I have kissed him."

The Tamaranian turned away and Mercury looked at her, only able to see her turned face and bright red hair. Mercury glared at Starfire but felt guilty inside. She wanted what Starfire had; she wanted Starfire. Starfire was beautiful, powerful, and caring; she had it all. Mercury sighed. She probably shouldn't have said what she did to be honest. Mercury was lucky to even be alive and well; she owed everything to the Titans and likely could stand to be a bit more grateful.

Fortunately, when the lift stopped and the door slid open, all ill-will between the two girls evaporated. They ran out of the elevator and found themselves inside a rectangular bunker. Four surgical tables stood at the center of the bunker, surrounded by glass panels, consoles and monitors hanging over each one. In addition, stark white lights hung from overhead and Mercury was uncomfortably reminded of the lab where she was altered. Mercury clenched her fists and walked toward the outer glass housing where the tables were located.

"Welcome, Project Mercury," an artificial female voice said.

Mercury sneered. "Shut up."

The glass doors slid open and Mercury entered, followed by Starfire. Once inside, Mercury realized the tables were smeared with red, the metallic stink of blood drifting within the containment area.

"What happened here?" Starfire asked.

"More projects," Mercury answered surely.

The monitors flicked on around them, broken schematics, and corrupted data flashing rapidly on the screens. Mercury looked up at the screens but nothing that appeared on them made any sense. Garbled audio roared over the speakers until Mercury walked over to the central computer and clicked on the keyboard, the only thing in the area she could find to interact with. The other monitors blinked off and the central display turned on.

Doctor Element faded in from a black screen, spiky grayed hair, cavernous wrinkles, and the stark white glare of his glasses piercing through the screen. Behind him there was a burning red-orange glow, raw plasma churning within some sort of energy core.

"Welcome to my offsite laboratory, Alkali," the villain physicist said. He seemed to have been expecting someone other than Starfire and Mercury. "This facility is for the creation of Periodic Projects; I am currently at fifteen out of one hundred eighteen," he explained to some unknown individual, possibly an assistant? "The gender and race of the subjects are of no concern but please, no projects over the age of twenty-"

"We shall find you, Doctor-of-the-Element!" Starfire shouted, interrupting the doctors tutorial. "When we do, you will not escape again!" She raised her hand, fiery green energy blooming in her palm.

Mercury reached up to grab Starfire's arm. "Star, wait," Mercury said. If Starfire destroyed the console, they wouldn't get any closer to finding the Doctor and stopping him.

The doctor looked up finally. "Oh, Project Mercury, how unexpected!" he said, a wicked smirk on his face. "It's nice so see you."

Mercury folded her arms. "Fuck you."

"Hmm," Doctor Element stroked his chin. "My impulse-redirect parameters seem to have not configured properly," he said. Mercury apparently was not performing as he intended. How tragic. "That's unfortunate; I was almost going to reschedule your experiment for more time."

"I'm the one that got away," Mercury told him. "I'm the monster that destroys its maker."

Doctor Element chuckled softly in response. "The Teen Titans may have thwarted a few of my experiments..." he began. "...but I have conducted others in the meantime while working on my fission stabilizer project." So that's what that thing was behind him? Mercury looked at Starfire and Starfire nodded; the brilliant doctor just gave himself away.

"I've also set precautions in place should this location ever become compromised," Doctor Element continued. "You were a decent prototype, Project Mercury," he said, complementing her in the most insulting way. "...but I think I'll scrap you and go back to the drawing board!"

This time he laughed heartily and Mercury's face tore with anger. She raised her arm and the metal coating around her hand liquefied, slipping into the form of a metal whip. When she swiped downward, the whip followed the motion, cutting through both the monitor and the table upon which it stood. The furnishings crumbled into a smoldering heap as Mercury returned the whip to her hand.

"You just wanted to blow up the screen yourself," Starfire said, pointing a finger.

"No, Starfire, we needed to find out where he was hiding first," Mercury said, shaking her head. "And I wanted to take out the screen, yeah," she admitted afterward. Mercury looked around the bunker and saw that across from the elevator door there was another pair of sliding doors on the other side. "So when he said 'precautions'..." Mercury began.

"Another drone," Starfire said, watching an ION drone deploy from the ceiling to her left.

A second ION drone lowered down from Mercury's right side. "Yeah, there's one on this side too." She turned to face her drone and Starfire did the same, the two of the them standing back-to-back with the drones on either side. "Guess what, Star," she said.

Starfire turned her head slightly, eyes still fixed on the drone preparing to fire. "What?" she asked.

"It's a race," Mercury declared.

Mercury reached out and melted the surgery tables, metallic slate reduced to liquid. Both drones charged electricity but Mercury focused on the drone before her. Particle beams blazed the air. Mercury ducked beneath the attack. She formed a spear from the pool of metal and flung it. The weapon sailed forward and impaled the drone, sparks erupting.

Mercury gathered more metal from the pool, coating her arms and legs in steel. She heard more blasts and beams from behind. Starfire cried out. Mercury turned back to see her drone attack again. She crossed her steel-covered forearms in defense. Arcs of electricity scattered away from her before she hardened liquid metal into a sword. Mercury closed distance and eviscerated the drone.

Mercury jumped back and watched the shredded drone collapse, sparking and bolting uselessly. She turned to see Starfire hovering over her drone, the robotic enemy now a smoldering wreck.

"I have emerged victorious!" Starfire cheered.

Mercury pointed at her. "You cheated."

Starfire gasped. "I did no such thing!"

"How did you beat the drone?" Mercury asked, crossing her arms.

"I used my starbolt beams," Starfire explained.

"Beams? From your eyes?" Mercury asked, looking up at Starfire. "Yeah, I didn't mention eye powers were off limits," she joked.

Starfire pouted. "That is far from fair, Mercury."

Mercury smiled and Starfire couldn't help but smile as well.

The lights in the bunker flicked off. The underground laboratory plunged into darkness, and silence followed afterward, generators shutting down as well as the machines they powered. In the blackness, Mercury could only see Starfire's glowing eyes.

"We should no longer be here," Starfire said, raising her hand to produce some light.

"You're right," Mercury said, looking around the bunker, painted green by Starfire's energy. "...but there's something else," Mercury said. "Do you hear that?"

Starfire nodded. She heard it too. A faint ticking, not like the clicking in Mercury's head, which she barely noticed anymore. This was a heavier. Mercury's eyes came across the door from earlier other sliding door she noticed when first entering.

"Come on," Mercury said.

She ran and punched the glass between her and the mystery door. Was it an alternate exit? A storage area perhaps? Starfire floated over her shoulder as she approached. With a wave of her hand she liquefied the door and walked ahead. Starfire's green glow washed over this room as well, a long, rectangular area, that held some sort of machine or device. It had a pointed tip and fins on its end. Starfire aimed her light at the center of this device where Mercury knelt closer to see it read 'GE-3 Massive Ordinance'. The ticking she heard belonged to a countdown located just underneath this label.

"It's a bomb," Mercury stated frankly. "A really big one."

"As I said before," Starfire began floating backward, away from the explosive. "We should no longer be here!"

Starfire flew straight through the bunker and Mercury ran alongside, stopping at the elevator. She clicked on the controls before realizing the lift would not operate without power. She reached out and melted the metal door of the elevator then walked into the elevator shaft. Mercury looked up and proceeded to melt the metal above her. She pushed more energy into her efforts, as virtually the entire metallic chasm needed to be removed and the bomb within the bunker was still counting down.

Mercury felt the implant digging sharply into the base of her head as waves of liquid metal rained around her and Starfire. The metallic ooze pooled in the bottom of the elevator shaft, silvery-black gathering up to her knees until finally the shaft was cleared, the light of day peeking in from high above.

From there Starfire took Mercury's hand and rocketed into the air. In seconds they were out of the elevator channel, Mercury closing her eyes because of how fast Starfire was flying. Wind whipped around them as they rapidly ascended, all sound drowned out by the fierce rushing of air. Starfire slowed her climb into the sky after several seconds and Mercury looked down to see the abandoned library that concealed the elevator which led to the underground bunker.

A second later, the building and everything within a hundred feet of it was leveled by a crushing pressure wave. The blast was followed by a scorching fireball, flame and debris spreading throughout the destroyed area like sand on the wind. Starfire held Mercury in both hands and hovered in the sky far above the immense explosion, watching in silence until the delayed pressure wave reached them moments later, a shock of force cutting sharply around them.

Mercury looked at the burned wake of the blast and realized she would be dead if not for Starfire. "Did I ever tell you I like you?" she asked Starfire.. "Like, a lot?" There's no way Mercury would have cleared the radius in time. "Thanks, Star."

"You are most welcome," Starfire said with a smile.

As the Tamaranian began lowering herself and Mercury to the ground, Cyborg came over the communicator. "Robin? Robin, where are you?"

Mercury pulled Robin's comm from her waist. "Cyborg?" she called as the surface gradually grew near. "This is Mercury."

"Mercury?" Cyborg shouted, labored breathing. He was fighting. "Why do you have Robin's radio?"

"Oh, he gave it to me to call Star-"

"We just heard an explosion!" Cyborg said, interrupting. "Are you and Star safe?"

"We are well, friends," Starfire told him. "How are you faring?"

"We got separated from Robin," Cyborg informed. "The projects are tougher than expected," he said. Static roared over the channel and Mercury pulled her ear away before Cyborg returned. "Get to the highway!" he screamed. "That's where we last saw Robin."

"What about you and Raven?" Mercury asked, concerned.

"Go to Robin first!" Cyborg ordered.

Mercury started to say something but the channel fell silent. Cyborg had ended the call. Moments later, Starfire lowered Mercury down and she felt her feet meet the ground. Nothing remained of the building or the surrounding area and Mercury felt a distinct warmth emanating from the crater where it once stood. She still couldn't believe how close she was to being blown up. Mercury looked at Starfire as she landed beside her, eyes wandering. She could fly really fast.

"Okay," Mercury said, showing the location to Starfire via the comm. "The highway is that way," she said. "Let's go!"


	6. Thermodynamics

**Thermodynamics** : noun - a branch of physics concerned with heat and temperature and their relation to energy and work.

* * *

Mercury started running towards the winding highway routes in the distance. She manipulated the metal covering her legs as Starfire flew ahead. Mercury sharpened the metal under her feet and began skating down the street on makeshift blades. Starfire looked back to see Mercury catching up to her with newfound speed.

"Shall we race again?" she asked, smiling.

Mercury skated alongside Starfire and looked up at her. "Let's just get there," she replied, knowing Star would win.

Mercury cut down the road at a speed but Starfire still pulled away. Cars blurred on either side of her as she skating passed them, pushing herself to keep up. She took the ramp up to the central highway where Starfire had already arrived. Mercury skated up to see wrecked cars and rubble blocking the road.

At the center of the carnage stood Robin and Project Platinum, locked in a fierce grapple. Mercury slid to a halt then vaulted over the hood of an abandoned car to land directly next to Robin. He took the upper hand in his struggle against Platinum and threw him to the ground. Mercury slashed with a whip of liquid metal but the attack merely glanced off of the project's metallic form.

"Robin," Starfire called. "Are you alright?"

"I haven't been able to scratch this guy at all," Robin huffed. "He keeps shielding himself."

"Maybe we can help," Mercury said as Platinum stood up and the barrier around him dissolved.

The project generated a shard of platinum and launched it at Mercury. She punched the crystal and it shattered around her steely fist. Starfire cast a starbolt at Platinum. He created more of his namesake element to protect himself. Robin struck next but could not break through the crystalline shields. Mercury focused the metal coating her arms into the size and shape of a cannonball then hurled the ball. It broke through the crystal barrier and slammed into Platinum who crashed backward from the impact.

"Project Platinum is complete. I am fully functional," Platinum said. "Project Mercury is a failure."

"Drop the 'project'," Mercury said while walking forward. "It's just 'Mercury'." She shook her head. "I am not a failure; I have found new purpose," she asserted. She aimed a hand at Platinum. "This is your last chance; give up."

Platinum stood and waved his hands, a shroud of metal crystals forming around him. Mercury smirked; she had given him a chance to go quietly. The crystals would be of no use against her next move. She targeted the rogue project, hiding behind his glittering defense, and poured raw heat into his general area. The platinum crystals melted first, wilting away to leave Platinum exposed.

The project stood and limped forward as he grew exceedingly hot, temperatures in the area climbing well beyond at thousand degrees. The enemy began to glow red, orange, and then finally white-hot, molten metal spilling away from the foe like water. Robin stepped backward several feet and Mercury closed her eyes, still increasing the heat but unable to bare the extreme light flooding away from Platinum in his last moments.

Mercury felt the spike in her head and the clicking became utterly agonizing. When she ceased the temperature manipulation, the light and heat began slowly fading away from the highway. A blazing hot trail of molten platinum laid burning from one side of the street to the other. Project Platinum was dead.

Mercury fell to her knees, trembling, a terrible throbbing in the back of her head. She wiped her face, bleeding from her nose and her eyes. Starfire flew over to her, touching Mercury gently on her back.

"What the hell was that?" Robin shouted. "We catch criminals, not vaporize them!"

"It seems she has over-exerted herself, Robin," Starfire said, petting Mercury. "Please, be patient."

Robin scoffed. "Yeah, I think she over did it," he said, sarcastic. "Just a little."

Starfire looked at Robin. "She did give him a last warning," she said, a thing Robin himself had done in the past.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Mercury muttered once her implant calmed down. "We couldn't just keep hitting him. That was going nowhere."

Robin glared at Mercury. "We'll talk about this later." He turned to scan the city. "Where are Raven and Cyborg?"

Starfire floated away from Mercury as she stood and looked at her comm. "A few miles north of here," she said. It was Robin's comm actually. Mercury started to ask if he wanted if back, but he was already headed north. Mercury and Starfire followed after him.

"What did you find at the radiation source?" Robin asked as he ran.

"More drones of the ION," Starfire said. She was flying but still close enough to talk. "...as well as the most large of explosive devices."

"Exciting would be an understatement," Mercury added. "We found a clue as to where Doctor Element is hiding."

Robin turned to her. "Where?"

"He said something about an 'energy core'," Mercury said. "I'm thinking a reactor or power plant kinda deal?"

Robin nodded then turned forward and kept running. Mercury skated at his side.

* * *

The second project from the lab, Lithium, stood in the center of a destroyed street, craters and smoldering wreckage in every direction around him. A wounded Cyborg stood several feet away from him, staring down the project with the barrel of his sonic cannon. On either side of the street there were shops and parlors, storefronts trashed in flame as if they had been bombed. The fighting had taken its toll both on Cyborg and the city.

Raven floated next to Cyborg and stretched out a hand, a wave of black magic tossing the project away as he tried to approach yet again. The altered teen fell back and a fiery explosion flared around him as his body made hard contact with the street. This had been going on for several minutes.

Robin and Mercury saw this exchange as they approached, watching Raven keep Lithium at bay from her and Cyborg.

"Cyborg!" Starfire called as she drew near as well.

Raven looked over her shoulder. "Your timing is impeccable," she groaned.

Robin rushed forward to stand beside Cyborg. "Don't worry, we're here to help!"

"I could destroy him if I wanted, that is not the problem," Raven explained. "He explodes whenever he is hit," she continued as Lithium climbed to his feet, relentless. "An attack that is strong enough to put him down would cause a lot of collateral damage."

"So you've been stalling this whole time?" Robin asked, watching Lithium trudge forward.

Raven sighed. "I would love to hear your ideas."

Lithium stood upright, bits of rubble from the street falling away from him and smoke rising from the scorched craters that surrounded him and the Titans. "You really need five people to take me on?" the teen asked, laughing. Dark smoke rose into the evening sky, trails of black drifting into the bluish-gray above. "Two-on-one was already unfair. This is a joke!"

"Allow me!" Starfire said, eager. She charged a bolt of green in her hand.

Robin turned to her. "Starfire, no!" he shouted. Her attacks against Lithium would be far too devastating. Starfire lowered her hand. "We need to try something else," Robin said, trying to think.

Mercury thought as well. "I could freeze him?" she offered. "That would counteract the reactions." At least, that's where her logic led. She had learned in the Tower that her power of temperatures could work both ways.

Robin looked at Mercury. Lithium ran forward, screaming as he approached the Titans. Cyborg fired his cannon. Bluish beams of sound pelted the enemy as he advanced, fire and debris bursting around him but leaving no damage. Cyborg jumped back as Mercury stepped forward. Starfire folded her arms and watched, her starbolts too violent for this encounter.

"Raven, stop him!" Robin shouted. Raven's eyes widened and pure white shone forth. Lithium halted in place, paralyzed by magic. "Mercury, now!"

Mercury raised a hand toward Lithium, who appeared captured in time, nothing moving but the shiver of his eyes. The metal-bender twisted her hand and a pale blue glow surrounded the project. The air around him became chilled within seconds, icy fog dripping down and gathering about the street like the cool mist of dry ice. Frost crept over Lithium's skin, faint at first before becoming hardened ice, a shell of whitish-blue draining all heat and life from the foe.

Mercury lowered her hand, quivering. She shakily breathed in and felt the implant recede from her brain, a welcome end to the stabbing pain in her head. Looking on the frozen form of Lithium, his angered fist only inches away from her face, she said nothing. The others didn't say anything either, several moments passing before Robin spoke to his team.

"You mentioned a reactor of some kind?" Robin asked Mercury.

Mercury nodded. "Yeah, well, when I saw Doctor Element, that's what it looked like." She thought back to the brief exchange she had with the villain doctor in the bunker. "He said he was working on a 'fission stabilizer'."

"I see," Robin said. "Cyborg, can you detect anything like that in the area?"

Cyborg tapped on his forearm, scanning the area around him. After several seconds, he shook his head. "There's no radiation or massive energy signatures within twenty miles of us," he said. "If we were at the Tower, I could scan the whole city."

"Beast Boy is at the Tower..." Mercury said, unsure if that would be of any help.

"You're right," Robin said. He patted his side for his comm and failed to find it. "Where's my-" Mercury hurriedly handed the comm to the leader and Robin clicked on the device. "Beast Boy!"

"Yo," Beast Boy answered. "Having all the fun without me?"

"Get to the surveillance room," Robin instructed. "We're looking for a massive energy source."

Beast Boy could be heard shuffling over the radio. "You got it, dudes," he said.

Mercury and the other Titans waited as Beast Boy traveled to the computer room.

"Cy, how do you even work this thing?" he asked. Cyborg was about to respond when Beast Boy returned. "Nevermind, got it!"

"What do you see?" Robin asked.

"Development Center for Experimental Energetics," Beast Boy said. "It's far, dude. Like on the other side of the city."

"Link us the location," Robin ordered.

"Will do," Beast Boy said. Mercury heard his typing over the radio. "So, uh, can I join guys or...?"

"Not until you can transform reliably," Robin said. He clicked off the call and looked at the comm for their destination. Beast Boy was right, the facility was far from their current position. Robin looked at Cyborg. "I guess the T-Car is still where we left it?"

"Yeah, further back on the highway," Cyborg said. "I can call it to us, it'll catch up in few minutes."

"Do it." Robin turned to start walking down the street. "Until then, we're on foot."

Mercury and the other Titans followed Robin on the way down the road, leaving the frozen Lithium and the damaged street behind. She thought about asking Robin if they wanted to go back to the tower first but decided not to. They had already done a lot today; investigating the bunker, rescuing Robin, and then defeating both of Doctor Element's projects. Still, their was no way Robin would agree to holding off the pursuit of the villain scientist until tomorrow.

As Mercury walked she found that she too wanted to find Doctor Element sooner rather than later. If they waited he could relocate or learn of the Titans closing in and prepare. He needed to answer for what he had done. Though, based on the events that transpired so far, it would be foolish to assume Doctor Element had not prepared something for the Titans at his energy facility.

Walking with the Teen Titans like this, in a group, side-by-side, was so unreal. It was like a movie where the heroes walk in slow-motion, only, in this instance, they had yet to accomplish their ultimate goal; Doctor Element still remained at large. Mercury, in her black wetsuit and metal-covered limbs, fit well among the other capes and costumes of her allies. It was a shame Beast Boy couldn't be here for this.

"Beast Boy sounded better over the radio..." Mercury said.

Robin kept walking. "We don't know for sure and it's not worth the risk."

"Yeah," Mercury agreed. She didn't like it, but he was right.

"So, Mercury..." Cyborg began. Something was on his mind. "You can control temperatures as well?"

Mercury nodded. "Yeah, Robin helped me figure it out," she said. "It's... useful." Clearly. She had just used it to kill the projects.

"Interesting," Cyborg commented. "Have you noticed any side-effects?"

"From my powers?" Mercury asked. She shrugged. "I feel pain in my head when I use a lot of energy," she said, trying not to sound whiny. "There's also the clicking I told you about," Mercury said. She looked up at Raven. "I usually don't notice it anymore."

"Everyone has a limit," Raven uttered, hinting darkly at her own troubles. "Every power has a weakness."

"She's right," Cyborg affirmed. "Many abilities have a stress-limit," he said. "Though yours come from an implant, they appear to function similarly."

"Our friends mean well, Ashley," Starfire said. "However, do not dwell on what you cannot do," she advised, decidedly more lighthearted than the others. "There is no end to what you can achieve."

Mercury gave her a smile. "Thanks, Star."

Just then she heard the T-Car roaring in the distance, its futuristic engine growling as it drew near. The Titans came to an intersection as the vehicle raced down the adjacent street. The headlights glared in the setting sun, a swathe of white proceeding the T-Car which swerved to a stop directly ahead of them. Gravel sprayed away from the car's wake and the doors clicked open, welcoming the Titans to hop inside. Cyborg smiled.

"That's our ride!" Robin said. He ran for the car. "Come on!"

The others followed, piling into the vehicle while Cyborg input their destination: the Development Center for Experimental Energetics. The T-Car spun on asphalt before speeding down the street towards the confrontation with Doctor Element.


	7. Fission-Fusion

**Fission** is the splitting of a heavy nucleus into lighter nuclei, releasing energy as a result. **Fusion** is the reverse and absorbs energy instead.

* * *

Cyborg stopped the T-Car just outside of a primary office building, one among many that made up a large research complex on the outskirts of Jump City. He, Robin, and Mercury exited the vehicle and looked on the complex, wondering what sort of machinations it held. The buildings stood in a square around a central courtyard, closed off by chain link fences and high-voltage warnings.

Raven and Starfire landed and Robin turned to the group. "Starfire, if we come across any drones, they're yours," he said. "Raven and Cyborg, you two deal with any projects we find inside," Robin continued before landing on Mercury. "You and me," he began. "We're going to focus on the Doctor."

Mercury nodded. "Right."

Robin smirked then spun to run inside the facility. Starfire launched a bolt of energy as Robin ran, a blast of green power tearing open the entrance. Robin dove through the opening and Mercury followed. Cyborg scanned their surroundings once inside, alarms blaring overhead. Red alert lights painted the pearly walls and polished floors of the center.

"The signature is here," Cyborg confirmed. "It's underground."

Mercury rolled her eyes and followed the other Titans, Cyborg leading the group now. Random passersby looked at the Titans in confusion as they ran to find Doctor Element. They likely had no idea what their colleague was up to right under their noses. Fortunately, the Doctor's work would soon meet its end.

The Titans took a flight of stairs down before turning to a long hallway. Red lights bathed the corridor, consoles on either wall overtaken with displays of an emergency state.

"Intrusion identified!" the robotic announcement uttered, echoing on the hard surfaces of the facility. "Terminate all sensitive experiments at once."

Mercury raised a brow. That was a strange announcement to give. What other sort of work was being conducted here? Was Doctor Element only one of many corrupt scientists that worked here? Before she could explore that thought further, Doctor Element himself spoke over the intercomm.

"Titans!" the doctor said gleefully, his voice crackling through the speakers overhead. His face appeared on the dozen or so screens that surrounded the Titans on each wall. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show," he cackled before looking closely into the camera, the same energy core from before burning intensely behind him.

"Project Mercury?" the doctor asked upon seeing her. He shook his head. "I would give you another chance to live, but I think I know how you would respond..." he said. He began typing on the console in front of him. "Enjoy being annihilated alongside the Titans!"

"Just wait 'til we find you," Mercury growled.

Robin closed his fist. "Hurry!" he urged his allies.

They ran further down the hall before reaching a blast door similar to one they had encountered before. There was a panel beside the door as well as a label reading 'Contaminant Barrier'. Cyborg approached the panel and began hacking the door.

"Hazardous material located on the fission sub-level," the robotic voice returned over the intercomm. "Deploying ION drones for clean-up, all key personnel vacate the area," the voice instructed. "Stationing Project Chromium at sub-level decontamination checkpoint," it concluded. More drones and another project to deal with? This was Element's doing undoubtedly.

An ION drone approached the Titans from each end of the hallway and Starfire floated up, charging her power.

"Mercury, get the door!" Robin said.

"Starfire..." Mercury called, ignoring Robin.

"I will be fine, friend," Starfire said, casting starbolts at the drone to her left. "Do as Robin says."

Mercury nodded and raised a hand to the blast door. A twitch of her fingers caused the metal to spill out of the frame and pool onto the tiles below. Project Chromium leaped forward just as the door melted, a rush a sterilization mist bursting outward around him from the Contaminant Barrier where he was placed. As planned, Cyborg and Raven stepped up to take the project down.

Meanwhile Robin walked into the decontamination room and Mercury quickly followed. Another rush of sterilizing gas shot up from the grated floor where Robin and Mercury stood. Directly ahead there was another blast door and the indicator light flipped from red to green. Mercury looked back at Cyborg and Raven, catching a glimpse of their battle with Chromium before following Robin into the reactor room ahead.

Computer terminals lined the walls of the room and there were florescent strips on the wall as well, lighting the room from the sides instead of from above. Towers of machined steel stood in each corner, each housing a massive gear fixture of some kind. The entire room had a cool blue feel inside despite the setpeice of the area that sat at its center. An orb of pure energy rested in the center of the area, a completely stable ball of reddish-orange energy that burned and swirled and writhed but never deviated from the unblemished form of a perfect sphere.

"Raw. Thermodynamic. Power."

Robin ground his teeth and glared at Doctor Element as he walked over to them. The old man wore an almost serene demeanor, casually approaching as if he was not an enemy of the Titans. Was he turning himself in?

The thick steel door slid closed behind Robin and Mercury. She looked back over shoulder then quickly turned back to Doctor Element.

"Power is grand indeed," Doctor Element said. He stopped to stand between the Titans and the energy core. "However _controlled_ power, harnessed and refined, is something else entirely." The doctor grinned, his lenses painted fiery by the burning orb behind him.

"Is this what you've been working on all along?" Robin asked the doctor. "Why did you make the projects? To what end?"

Mercury looked from Doctor Element to Robin and back again, glaring. She wondered the same thing.

"The Periodic Projects were ultimately a simple pastime," Doctor Element revealed. "This is my life's work..." he gestured to the blazing sphere behind him. "...my greatest achievement."

"It's the projects we care about, Doctor," Robin said. "Your other works may be legitimate, but you've experimented on students against their will." He unfolded his staff. "For that, you will pay."

"Perhaps students should pay more attention to what they sign on for?" Doctor Element mused. "No matter, I will now use my mastered energy to destroy you!" The doctor clicked on the device on his wrist and the whole room lurched upward, gears grinding sharply in the corners of the sub-level. "Behold, power in its truest form!"

Doctor Element switched the dial on his wrist device. Mercury and Robin charged toward him as he transformed. A flash of blinding white flared away from the villain scientist. The light cleared to reveal a doctor made entirely of titanium, a silvery gleam covering each inch of his body.

The gears continued to whir in the distance and the ceiling above slowly pulled open. A dusky sky loomed overhead, cool night air wafting through the stuffy facility as the platform where the energy core stood gradually rose. Mercury and Robin clashed with Doctor Element as the sub-level became elevated into the courtyard at the center of the development complex. The floor clunked underfoot, gears locking in place, Doctor Element's fiery orb beaming against the surrounding darkness.

Robin spun his staff, delivering a series of blows to Doctor Element with little effect. The doctor retaliated, his hard metal arm crushing into Robin. The leader fell while Mercury stepped up. She slashed with her metal whips but fared no better. Doctor Element's titanium fist broke her just as it had downed Robin. Mercury fell against the polished slate of the courtyard and coughed blood. She tried to get up but Doctor Element walked over and picked her up instead.

Mercury struggled to free herself from Doctor Element's titanium hand as it closed around her neck. She could feel his steely fingers digging into her bones, crushing the breath out of her body.

"I rarely am so... brutal in my testing," Doctor Element said. "However, some research requires a more... hands-on approach."

Tears welled in her eyes and her chest heaved violently, unable to draw a breath. Mercury squirmed as Doctor Element held her high off the ground, feet dangling. She reached out to melt the doctor's metallic form. Doctor Element smirked and he again vanished in a wave of light. When Mercury's vision returned she saw the doctor had taken a rocky form, one her powers could not affect.

"I hate you," Mercury mouthed, tears running down her face, consciousness slipping away from her.

An explosive burst of force tore into the Doctor's head. He reeled away from the blast, dropping Mercury in the process. Mercury fell limp against the metal flooring under her and stared with blurred vision at the darkening sky. She heard the whistle of Robin's birdarang followed by another explosion. She heard Robin call her name but failed to respond, labored breaths being her only focus.

"Mercury!" Robin called again. "Get up!"

Mercury felt the leader pulling her arm and strained to stand despite her breathlessness. Once on her feet she slumped against Robin as she was still very lightheaded. The leader glared at Doctor Element, an explosive birdarang in one hand, Mercury in the other. The Doctor shifted back to his titanium form.

"Are you ready?" Doctor Element asked. "You are about witness not only lossless release technology, but a replenishing source of nigh-infinite energy," the doctor explained as the orb shone brightly, its orange glow shining on the research buildings that surrounded it. "This very city will be my first demonstration."

"The city?" Robin repeated. "It's a weapon?"

"It is a tool," Doctor Element corrected. "An energy-based device with many uses."

"Don't attack the city, you coward!" Robin shouted, seeing through the doctor's choice words. "This isn't over!"

"Oh, I believe it is," the doctor insisted. "You are clearly no match for me." Doctor Element looked at Robin and Mercury. "Though, I would like to correct my failed project..." he said, suggesting a trade. If Mercury surrendered, then he would not fire his energy core at the city. "Give her to me."

Robin didn't say anything for a long time after that. Was he considering the offer? Mercury owed everything to the Titans anyway, the least she could do was give that up to save the city. She had tried to learn about her powers and train with them with the help of the Titans, but that wasn't enough. She fought alongside the Titans but they still couldn't beat Doctor Element. Maybe she needed to help them in some other way...

"Robin... I'll go..." Mercury said, her voice barely a whisper. "Save the city."

"No," he said to her, refusing to entertain that option. "I won't sacrifice my friend," Robin declared, taking a step toward Doctor Element. "...and I won't let you hurt anymore people!"

"Suit yourself," Doctor Element said. "Though, I fail to see how you will stop me." He went to his wrist device once again and tapped on a few buttons. The sphere behind him began to spin and burn in the night even more brightly than before. Robin ran forward fearlessly as the doctor placed a final click on his device and a brilliant beam of red-orange energy tore the sky.

Robin squinted against the blinding light of the laser as it pierced the air, Doctor Element becoming obscured within the immense glow. Robin flung a birdarang toward the energy core, skillfully arcing it around the doctor. The throwing star sailed into the orb and was vaporized instantly, disturbing the energy core just enough to cause a catastrophic destabilization event.

Mercury watched the towering beam of laserlight retract in the sphere. Robin ran and grabbed Mercury's hand as a cascade of plasma waves erupted from the core. They ran but not nearly fast enough; the waves caught up to them, blazing Robins cape and the back of Mercury's suit until a clawed foot latched onto both of them and picked them up.

A green pterodactyl scooped Robin and Mercury from the complex just as the waves of plasma flooded the surrounding area, burning down everything in their wake. Mercury looked down to see the complex was completely destroyed, laboratories and research centers replaced by flame and ash.

The creature flew for a moment longer before dropping Mercury and Robin into a field of grass near the destroyed complex. Beast Boy shifted into his human form and dropped as well, looking at Robin with a toothy grin.

"I think that qualifies as 'reliable'," he said, quoting what the leader had said to him.

"Beast Boy!" Mercury ran to hug him. "Oh my god!"

"Glad to see you too, Merc," he said hugging her back.

"Thank you, Beast Boy." Robin said. "We certainly needed you back there."

"Don't mention it, dudes," he said. He turned to look at the burning complex, columns of smoke rising into the night sky. "Where are the others?" Beast Boy hesitated to ask.

Mercury stumbled toward the complex and raised a hand to her mouth. "Oh my god..." she repeated. Had the others gotten out in time?

"Look, there!" Robin said, pointing.

A blast of green energy exploded within the sea of reddish flame and a figure floated out of the destruction.

"There's Star," Beast Boy said, watching from afar. "Cy and Rae too."

Mercury sighed relief. "Looks like they made it," she said.

Robin, Beast Boy, and Mercury jogged back toward the complex while Starfire, Cyborg and Raven left the wreckage behind. The two groups met in the grass outside of the complex, all six Titans together again. Cyborg and Beast Boy bumped fists, Starfire and Robin hugged and Mercury touched Raven's shoulder awkwardly.

"I'm glad you got out alive," Mercury said, avoiding the sorceress's haunting eyes. "I was worried."

"The feeling is mutual," Raven said, expressing her concern in her own way.

Mercury smiled at that. Not everyone cried or hugged or whatever. People were different and the Titans were just another example of this. In fact, the Titans were so diverse already in their powers and personalities, it's a miracle that Mercury was able to fit into the group and not step on any toes. Hopefully this friendship and teamwork would allow them to achieve great things.


	8. Thermonuclear

**Thermonuclear** : adj - relating to changes (reactions) in the nucleus of atoms that only occur at extremely high temperatures

* * *

"Um, guys?" Cyborg said, cutting the reunion short. "I'm reading a signature like the energy core headed for the city."

"What?" Mercury looked over to Cyborg, realizing as she did that the energy core was still intact after all of the destruction that occurred.

"He fired the core at the city," Robin said. "I tired to stop it but..."

"Looks like it worked, at least partially," Cyborg said, scanning. "This is the same kind of energy but on a much lower scale.

"Doctor Element has fled," Raven stated.

"Yeah, looks like he got away," Beast Boy said, having not seen the doctor after rescuing Robin and Mercury from the destabilization blast.

Robin stroked his chin. "Cyborg's read could be a clue," he said. "He might be headed for the city."

"What about his energy core?" Mercury asked, pointing over to the sphere of energy. Its glow combined with the light of the flames lit the surrounding area like daylight.

"You saw what happened when Robin hit it," Beast Boy said. "Maybe we just leave it alone?"

Raven smirked under her hood. "See, you're learning."

Beast Boy stuck his tongue out at her while Cyborg and Robin walked carefully through the fire back to the T-Car. The signal coming from the heart of the city was their only lead at this point, an energy signature was there and Doctor Element was likely headed there as well. Since his attempt to attack the city with his energy core had not gone exactly as planned, he was sure to try again.

"Ashley!" Starfire called. "Behind you!"

Mercury was on the way to car as well when a crystalline shard shot towards her. She dove forward and turned to see a young boy walking out of the fires of the research complex, clothes torn by flame. He flung his hand and sent another blade of crystal flying. Mercury cut the shard with a whip of metal and Starfire joined in the fight against what seemed to be yet another project, Zirconium, likely.

Doctor Element's tactics had followed a pattern all along. Zirconium had been mentioned in the files Cyborg found in the second lab, just like Chromium and the others. Starfire loosed a flurry of starbolts on the project and Mercury charged as Robin and the other Titans watched from afar. The project reeled from the blasts, scarcely managing to hold his arms up in defense of Mercury's advance.

She deployed her metallic whips and cut into the project until he fell to his knees. At that point Mercury cast out a band of prehensile metal, wrapping the liquid steel around the project's wrists. Mercury walked over to the bound project, a teenage boy with black hair and blue eyes. He looked up with a fierce glare but instead of seeing an enemy, Mercury saw one of her peers; he was just a kid like her, altered by technology she did not fully understand.

Her talk with Robin on the highway made Mercury realize her powers needed to be used within reason. The pain she could now inflict had to be checked by responsible actions. This presence of mind allowed Mercury to pull the altered teen to his feet and drag him to the T-Car instead of furthering the violence. Mercury glanced quickly at Robin as she pushed the teen inside.

Something went unsaid between them. A subtle nod; a silent recognition. Mercury figured the Titans would be able to organize some sort of rehabilitation for the project. At least, she hoped. Maybe they would just send him to jail instead. What mattered is that they had subdued the project and not outright killed him like the others.

"Good work, Mercury," Robin said. "We'll try to help him and any other projects we find from here on." Mercury was about to respond until Robin continued, his voice urgent. "For now we need to deal with Doctor Element."

Unfortunately, with that minor distraction, Doctor Element had gotten further away, closer to his ultimate goal of showing the city his great scientific achievements. The Titans needed to gain ground on him and fast. Robin and Cyborg took the front seats of the car while Beast Boy and Mercury sat on either side of the captured project in the backseat. Raven and Starfire flew above the car as it blurred through the city streets, headed for downtown as light mist started to fall on Jump City.

Mercury looked over the seat of Robin sitting in front of her to peer out of the window ahead. Citizens of Jump City scattered, screaming and running away from the city's main square. Mercury squinted to see what they were running from; more destruction. Smoke and fire rose from the city square like the fumes from a cauldron, skyscrapers surrounding the area in a towering ring of man-made structures upon which the flames reflected angrily. A white armored truck sat at the center of this chaos, D.C.E.E painted on its sides in black.

Cyborg spun the wheel and the T-Car slid to a stop, facing the D.C.E.E truck from several yards away. Headlights clashed brightly between the two vehicles, a flood of light illuminating the otherwise blackened night, raindrops glimmering within the glow.

"This is the signature," Cyborg stated.

Robin nodded. "Be ready for anything.," he said before exiting the T-Car.

The other Titans joined him, lining up on either said as the back doors of the truck swung open. A squadron of four ION drones floated out of the truck and approached the Titans.

"He's here," Raven groaned, her eerie senses scouting the area. "The doctor."

"First things first," Robin said. He unfolded his staff. Mercury loosed her whips. Beast Boy transformed. Cyborg deployed his cannon. Starfire charged her bolts. Raven's eyes flashed with power.

The six Titans met the four ION drones in battle and within thirty seconds there was nothing left but a field of shredded machinery. Glass and metal and wires were strewn about the city street, glinting in the starry night, glistening in the worsening rain. Mercury stood from her aggressive stance and wiped her brow.

The driver's side door of the truck opened slowly and Doctor Element casually stepped out, polished dress shoes meeting the wet road.

"Doctor Element," Robin growled. "This is the end."

The doctor had a plain look on his face, no longer reveling in his utter villainy. He turned and reached into the armored truck. The Titans tensed, wondering what sort of trick the doctor had this time. Doctor Element pulled a teenager out of the truck, a young girl.

"Is she another of your projects?" Mercury asked the doctor, disgusted. There seemed to be no end to the teenage experiments he had created and then used to carry out his vile tasks. If Mercury counted herself, this girl was the sixth project she knew of. Doctor Element had said in the bunker that he already created fifteen of them. Over half of the projects were still out there somewhere...

"Not just any project," the doctor said, holding the girl by the arm. "This is the capstone to my first phase of projects," Element explained. He looked at Mercury. "Some turned out better than others."

Mercury glared at the doctor. The girl, still wearing her Murakami uniform, didn't look like the other projects the Titans had battled so far. The previously altered teens had been hostile or aggressive in some way. In contrast this girl was dazed, stumbling in Doctor Element's grasp, hardly even able to stand on her own.

"Let her go," Robin ordered.

"Oh, I intend to," the doctor said. "...but you should know what will happen when I do." The girl fell forward and Doctor Element pulled her back towards him, rain now pouring around them. "Project Hydrogen was designed to have the highest yield possible," he said.

"Yield?" Starfire asked.

Robin clenched his fist. "Does he mean-"

"A bomb?" Mercury added, looking on with worry. So this was Project Hydrogen?

Doctor Element laughed as the Titans slowly gathered what they were up against. "Hydrogen is a highly reactive element," he said. "It is also the base of all nuclear weapons." A wicked grin formed on his face. "You remember my energy core, yes? Perfectly stable?" It fired a tower of light into the sky, how could they forget? "Project Hydrogen is the opposite of the that; primed to detonate at any moment..."

Cyborg was scanning the girl the whole time Doctor Element spoke and found that everything the doctor said was true. "Yeah, guys, this is really, really bad," he said, taking a step backwards. "She's basically a nuke."

"What?!" Robin snapped. "Tell the police to evacuate the citizens! Beast Boy and Mercury, start clearing the city!"

"It's no use Robin." Cyborg shrugged. "There's no way we could get out in time," he said. "I'm estimating at least fifty _miles_ of destruction."

"We gotta at least try, right?" Beast Boy said. He turned and started shouting for the people to get as far away as possible. Mercury joined him but felt a bit empty in doing so; people were already running for their lives and the square was mostly abandoned at this point.

Cyborg and Robin continued to argue. Raven closed her eyes, muttering a spell or something, Mercury couldn't tell. Did Doctor Element really turn a young girl into a nuclear bomb? Were she and her allies and the city only moments away from being totally annihilated? Mercury looked back over her shoulder to Starfire land on the ground and walk up to Doctor Element and Project Hydrogen.

"Starfire?" she asked, turning to see what she had planned. Starfire took the other girl by the hand and proceeded to fly directly into the sky. "Starfire!" Mercury cried. She ran to the point where Starfire had taken off from, looking straight up into the downpour. Starfire was a blur of red and green, blitzing into the sky above at a breathtaking speed, taking the dangerously explosive girl with her up into the clouds and beyond.

The other Titans turned to watch as well as Starfire raced upwards, likely reaching the atmosphere at this point. Even Doctor Element craned his neck to look into the sky. Finally, Starfire was gone from sight. Just gone. Mercury's mouth hung open, in awe but it wasn't until she saw the blast that she realized what just happened. A spark of energy struck brightly against the night sky. It looked like the twinkle of a star but Mercury knew the truth. Starfire had flown way up with the project, maybe even into space, so the explosion wouldn't hit the city. She saved them.

Mercury fell to her knees. "Starfire..." she said, tears spilling down her face.

Robin slowly looked back to Doctor Element. Everyone was stunned into silence, the shock of Starfire's action sinking in. The deafening roar of torrential rain poured down through the tension and Doctor Element cleared his throat, quite uneasy.

"...an unforeseen complication," Doctor Element croaked, his final gambit ruined by Starfire's selflessness. He reached for his wrist device. "No matter, I will eliminate you myself," he said as the familiar metal sheen washed over his form.

The Titans rushed Doctor Element and Mercury stood to join them. She stretched out her hand and used her power to melt Element's titanium form. He stumbled as his body liquefied and the Titans collapsed on him. He switched to his crystal form but the damage had been done.

Mercury glared at the doctor, sending tendrils of metal to wrap around his arms and legs, holding him down while the Titans ganged up on him. His enhanced durability proved to be of little use against the onslaught of damage, and soon a blast of light fell away from him, the energy of his element form fully depleted.

Doctor Element returned to his fleshly state, weakened and defeated. Mercury sighed, wanting to have a more direct hand in taking down the doctor. She wanted to make him hurt like he had hurt some many others. Alas, he was defeated and anymore fighting would be vengeance and not justice.

Mercury released her steely holds on the doctor and he fell forward to his hands and knees. Rain fell on the city square as Robin handcuffed the doctor, lightning cracking in the background. Police cars pulled up shortly afterward and the cops took Doctor Element away. Mercury watched him get thrown in the police car. She should have felt elated but in the end Mercury felt empty inside.

Robin went to the T-Car and handed Zirconium over to the police as well. Hopefully they would be understanding of his plight and everything that happened. The projects really weren't at fault for the things they may or may not have done while under the control of Doctor Element. The police loaded back in the cars and departed unceremoniously.

"It's over," Mercury said, watching the police cars drive away.

Robin looked over at her. "For now," he said. "There will be others."

"So... guys?" Beast Boy said. "Where's Star?"

Cyborg typed on his forearm. "I don't see her on any scans," he said grimly.

Mercury turned to Raven, hoping she could sense her where Cyborg couldn't.

Raven shook her head. "Nothing."

"Oh no..." Mercury said, bringing her hands to her face. "No, no, no," she cried, denying where her logic led. She looked up at the stormy sky once more. "She can't be gone..."

"Mercury," Robin said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go home." His determined voice was different now. Not totally broken by emotion; just fractured. It was obvious that he feared the worst.

Mercury swallowed hard, and looked at Robin, finding no comfort in his masked eyes. She knew that he was feeling the same loss as her, but he wasn't showing it at all. How awful it was to share a pain with someone so guarded.

At least, in the rain, no one could see her tears.

Mercury turned away from Robin and slumped in the backseat of the T-Car. The others joined in and Mercury looked out of the window on the trip back to the Tower. Rain continued to fall in the night and streams of water dripped down the car window, distant lights from the city blurred into prismatic shapes as they passed by.


	9. Fallout

**Fallout** : noun - the radioactive particles that are produced by a nuclear explosion and then fall through the atmosphere

* * *

Ashley sat in the dark alone in the guest room back at the Tower. It wasn't really a guest room at this point; for all intents and purposes it belonged to her. The Titans accepted her and Robin had given her approval several times, yet there had been no official or explicit joining of the team.

Rain still fell outside her window, lighter now than it had been in the city. The soft thundering cascaded outside and Ashley watched, feeling just like the darkened weather: bleak. She sighed and stood from her bed then walked over to the window, the skyline of Jump City scarcely visible beneath the black sky. Ashely's eyes shifted and the distant buildings faded, the reflection of herself in the window taking their place.

"It's all my fault..." she mouthed, looking at herself.

Her hair and face were still wet with rain, her eyes hung heavy in her head, and blood caked around her mouth and the holes in her suit. She looked like hell. Ashley turned away from the window, figuring it was well past midnight. The time ultimately did not matter; there was no way she would be able to sleep. Starfire was on her mind.

The shine of the blast going off in the night sky replayed in her thoughts. Was Starfire really... ? Mercury shook her head, more tears in her eyes. She couldn't allow herself to think that. She had to have hope.

Mercury sniffled and pulled matted hair from her face. "I just need to think of something else..."

She did her best to clean, dry, and collect herself. In her concern for Starfire, Mercury had nearly glossed over the fact that Doctor Element had been defeated. It had been no easy task to finally overcome him and his projects. Mercury chose to focus on this accomplishment in an effort to regain her composure.

It was strange to know that she could have easily been just another of the projects, torn and twisted into a servant of the villainous scientist. There was no way she could thank the Titans enough. They had become her new friends and family over the last few days. Although, now that she thought about it, Mercury was certain that her other loved ones were worried beyond all reason. With Doctor Element gone, there was no danger in calling her classmates and parents to tell them she was alright. Well, mostly alright.

Mercury left her room and walked through the hallway leading to the stairs. She saw Cyborg and Beast Boy watching TV in the lounge and eating pizza. She smiled weakly and waved. They waved back.

After taking the stairs up to the surveillance center, Mercury walked to the nearest console and pulled up the video call program. The prompt blinked on the screen asking who to contact and Mercury immediately thought of her parents.

There were also her friends from school but she could call them afterward. She typed in the number for her parents and waited as the program proceeded to ring for an extended period of time. Because of the time it took to connect, Mercury wondered for an instant if her parents were okay. The campaign against Doctor Element had caused damage to parts of the city, hopefully her parents weren't harmed as a result.

Finally the display flickered to show her mother and father on the screen, sitting in pajamas on the edge of their bed.

"Ashley, honey?" her mother asked, squinting at the screen. "Is that you?"

"Yeah," Mercury said, surprised they recognized her like this. "Hey Mom. Dad."

"We got a call from the school saying you went missing," her father said. "We were so worried."

Mercury looked away from the screen. "Yeah," she muttered. She didn't want to tell her parents exactly what happened with Doctor Element, the laboratory, and the implant. Those details would only frighten her parents. "I snuck away from the field trip," she lied. "I lost track of time and the bus left without me."

Her mother huffed. "Is that why you're dressed like that?" she asked. "What were you up to young lady?"

Mercury swallowed. "I, uh..." she stalled to think of a logical response. "I went to a concert."

"Looks like it got wild," her father commented, a hint of approval in his voice. Her mother elbowed him in the side. "Yes, well," her father cleared his throat. "That was highly irresponsible."

"At any rate, we're glad you're okay and that you called," her mother said. "Get back to school as soon as possible," she instructed. "We'll see you on the next break."

"Okay, Mom," Mercury said. "Bye."

Mercury ended the call, the video of her parents blinking off, leaving nothing but the soft whirring of the computers to fill the silence. Would she go back to school after this? The Titans no longer attended school; they pursued justice as a full-time endeavor. If Mercury were to join them, she would do the same.

Though, she wondered if that was something she wanted to do. If the quest to capture Doctor Element, and the consequences of such, were indicative of what the hero life was like, the option was dubious at best. For now, she would call her friends back at the academy.

Curfew had long passed on campus but Brad still answered the call, his handsome face appearing on the screen, washed pale by the light of his laptop. The familiar furnishings of the Murakami dorms rested along the walls as did several other students, all piled on the bunk bed behind him.

"What's up, Ashley?" he asked, whispering. Others behind him waved at the screen.

Mercury waved to her classmates, knowing they would be in trouble for being up this late. "Hey guys," she said, also whispering for some reason.

"Wait you're wearing-" Brad pointed at the screen, noting Mercury's bodysuit and metal-coated arms and legs. "Were you with the Titans in the city?" he asked, barely able to keep his voice down for excitement.

"Yeah, I was," Mercury said, nodding. "I told you I was helping them fight the evil doctor," she reminded him and the others. "We finally beat him..." At great cost.

Brad laughed and turned back to his friends. "I told you guys!" he said. "I told you that was Ashley." Brad turned back to the screen. "They didn't believe me."

Mercury shrugged playfully. "It's true," she said. "I owe them everything..." Her voice trailed as she heard footsteps from the stairway. She turned to see Robin leaning against the wall outside. "...it's the least I could do." she concluded.

"What's that?" Brad asked as shuffling sounded on the other end of the call. "Uh oh," he muttered. He turned back to the screen. "Gotta go, Ash! Talk to you later," Brad said as a hard knocking beat on his dorm room. He ended the call.

Mercury sighed then closed the voice call program and Robin entered the control center soon after.

"Wrapping up loose ends?" Robin asked.

Mercury made a face. "That's not how I would say it," she replied. "...but, yeah. Sort of." She looked at Robin but only saw his mask, unable to gather even a glimpse of what he had on his mind. She shifted her weight. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

"I want you on the team," he said bluntly. The fractures in his voice were gone. "You fit."

Mercury blinked, stunned. "I, uh- wow," she fumbled. So this is what he meant by 'loose ends'? Friends and family would get in the way of hero work. "This is..." She wanted to say 'sudden' but it really wasn't; they had tracked Doctor Element together and fought side-by-side for several days now.

In a way she had 'handled' her friends and family by speaking to them just now. She would still talk to them even if she joined the Titans but they wouldn't be a distraction and on her mind all the time. Mercury looked at Robin. Only one person held her concern at this point. "What about Starfire?" she asked.

"She has no bearing on this decision," Robin said.

Mercury gasped. "How can you say that?" she asked. "She saved my life!" she cried. "She saved us all!

"I am aware," Robin stated. "Her efforts will not go unremembered."

"You don't..." Mercury whispered. "You don't think she's dead..." she said. "...do you?"

Robin was silent. He stood across from Mercury, still like a statue in the blue glow of the computers that lined the walls on either side of him.

"You're not gonna say anything?" Mercury asked, crying again.

Robin folded his arms. "What is your decision?"

"How can you be like that?" Mercury screamed, flinging her arms. "Stop pretending like you don't care!"

Mercury's field of influence took hold of the technology in the control center, metal dripping down the sides of the computer terminals and monitors fuzzing with static before blinking off.

"If Starfire lived or not doesn't change the fact that you have potential," Robin explained, remaining calm as the surveillance room melted around him. "You have unique talents, abilities that compliment those of the other Titans," Robin said while sparks burst down from the ceiling, hot bits of metal scattering frantically as liquid metal pooled across the floor.

"More than that, you have quickly grasped these powers and the responsibility that they demand," Robin continued, his voice nearly drowned by the sloshing of metal as technology crashed from the walls into the pool below. "You need work, but you could be a fine hero."

Mercury looked around, sobbing. Every monitor and terminal now laid liquefied on the floor of the surveillance room. Surely Robin wasn't saying those things about _her_. She didn't even want to know how much it would cost to replace everything she destroyed just then. Her powers frayed beyond control in that moment, driven to the brink by Robin's vexing, distant attitude. Still he had not admitted to giving a fuck about anything but the city and the mission and the law.

"Just say it," Mercury pleaded. "Say you care."

A long pause. "I do," he said finally. "I care."

Mercury sighed and wiped her eyes. "I'll join you," she said. She looked at Robin but had to look away quickly, both embarrassed and infuriated. "I want to help," she croaked, tension in her throat.

"Good." Robin turned to leave. "Your training starts tomorrow morning."

Mercury watched him walk away, lost for words. She glanced around the surveillance room again. It was just another room now, all the surveillance equipment was now a pool of silvery, metallic goo. So she was a Titan now? Funny, she didn't feel any different. There wasn't even a party or anything. It was a long moment alone in silence before Mercury found it in herself to leave.

She walked down the stairs and arrived back at the living room. Cyborg and Beast Boy were still watching TV, the shocking colors of a cartoon flashing on the screen through the dim light of the lounge. Mercury dropped onto the couch on the other side of Beast Boy and sighed. She had been sad and hopeless before; now she was just tired.

"Hey, Merc," Cyborg said from the other end of the couch.

Mercury forced a smile. "Hey, Cy," she returned.

"Pizza?" Beast Boy offered, raising a slice.

She smelled the lukewarm cheese and garlic drift toward her. "I'm not hungry," she lied. Truly she _did_ want to eat, but more than that, she wanted to sleep.

"You sure?" Beast Boy said, sensing something was wrong. When Mercury didn't reply, his made a face and took the slice for himself. "You're thinking about Star..." he said, understanding. Beast Boy finished the slice, swallowing hard. "We all hate to see her go..."

"She's not gone," Mercury insisted.

"BB's got a point," Cyborg said. "Even Starfire can't handle a direct nuclear blast," he reasoned, his outlook one of grim realism. He stood from the couch moments later. "Anyway, I'm gonna go charge up," he said before walking off to his room. "You guys should get some sleep too; you never know what's waiting for us tomorrow."

Mercury closed her eyes, eyelids weighing far heavier than they should, and just shook her head in protest. She didn't care how long the Titans had known Starfire or how many calculations Cyborg did or how much Robin loved her.

"No, I don't..." Mercury said, her voice terribly faint. "... I don't believe that." She faded to sleep on the couch and hours later Beast Boy did the same, passing out on the couch beside her.


	10. Conservation of Energy

The law of **Conservation of E** **nergy** states, simply, that energy is constant and can be neither created nor be destroyed.

* * *

"Oh, this is priceless," Raven groaned.

Mercury stirred on the couch in the living room, abruptly jarred awake by Raven's deadpan voice. She looked around to see the soft glow of dawn and squinted so her eyes could adjust.

"Raven?" she moaned, still waking up. "What are you...?" Mercury shifted on the couch and felt a weight on top of her.

Beast Boy yawned loudly and stretched his arms. "Dude, what time is it?" he asked before realizing he was laying on Mercury. "Whoa!"

"Hey!" Mercury grunted. "All that space and you're laying on me?" she questioned as Beast Boy morphed into a cat and leaped to the coffee table a few feet away. "Oh, and now you're a cat so I can't be mad?" Mercury stood from the couch and put a hand on her hip. "Real fair," she sassed.

Raven watched them from across the room. "Are you done?" she asked.

"Huh?" Mercury turned to look at the sorceress. "Oh, yeah. What's up?"

"Follow me."

Mercury raised a brow as Raven glided through the living room toward the stairs. The dark girl clearly had no intention of telling them what was on her mind ahead of time. Mercury scooped up Beast Boy before he could scurry away, cradling the unnaturally green cat in her arms. Beast Boy mewed and squirmed to get free of Mercury to little avail. She smiled.

Raven was silent on the way upstairs. Mercury followed her for what seemed to be ages until they reached the top of the Tower. Raven pushed the door open and then walked out onto the roof of the Tower. Mercury joined her moments later and felt cool, thin air rush around her as she looked from this incredible vantage at the water, the shore beyond and of course Jump City resting in the distance, glittering from yesterdays rainstorm.

"Wow," Mercury said, astonished by the view. She hadn't seen anything this ever except for the time Starfire carried her into the sky to avoid the bunker explosion. That and the event with Project Hydrogen and the nuclear blast from last night were eerily similar. The difference this time was that Starfire was also in danger, not just the people she was saving.

The thought of Starfire changed Mercury's awe into something more serious. "Why are we here?" she asked Raven. Part of her hoped it was about Starfire, part of her wished it was something, anything, else.

"How do you feel?" Raven asked.

Mercury shrugged. "Like I didn't get nearly enough sleep or food yesterday," she said. "Why?"

"I meant your implant," Raven clarified.

"Oh." Mercury shrugged. "I don't really notice it anymore," she said, petting Beast Boy absently. "I guess I 'cleared my mind'?" she asked, thinking back to the advice Raven had given her when they first met.

"Not quite," Raven replied. "Though, you have made progress." The dark girl removed the hood of her cloak and looked at Mercury.

Mercury felt her spine stiffen but didn't look away. There was something else on Raven's mind.

"I know you are holding hope for Starfire..." Raven said.

Mercury's breath caught in her throat, scared of what Raven was going to say next. Raven brought up Starfire, just as she had feared. The breeze above the Tower fell still in anticipation. Mercury was tense all over and wondered if she was ready to hear the truth.

"She is alive," Raven announced.

"What?" Mercury said, dropping Beast Boy in surprise. "Are you sure?"

Beast Boy landed on his feet and then reverted to regular form. "Raven, for real?"

"Look up," was Raven's only response.

Mercury and Beast Boy did as Raven said, looking up into the dewy dawn sky to see a shockwave ripple through the upper atmosphere, a white dot at its center. It resembled a star at first, burning so brightly so as to be visible in the morning sky. However, the star grew larger as it approached, wreathed in the flames of re-entry. Mercury watched intently and the glowing object grew even closer. Within the flames Mercury swore she saw a the form of a certain Tamaranian female. Could it be true?

The figure slowed her descent as she fell towards the rooftop of the Tower, stopping short to hover the rest of the way down. The blinding fiery energy faded around her and when the light cleared, Starfire was revealed, hovering above them, her brilliant red hair fluttering in the wind.

"Starfire!" Mercury cried out, the sky seeming to glow around the alien hero. "You're alive..."

"Friends!" Starfire cheered. She hovered down to the rooftop and Mercury ran to hug her. Starfire returned the embrace eagerly but pulled when she noticed Mercury was crying. "Ashley, I do not understand," Starfire said. "Has my return brought you sorrow?"

Mercury wiped her eyes. "No! Not at all!" Mercury said, wiping her eyes. "I'm so happy you're back! I thought... We..."

"Worry not," Starfire told her. "I took the danger into space and then continued flying until I also was a safe distance away," Starfire explained. "I had yet to encounter the so-called 'nuclear' weapons so I may have been gone longer than necessary."

Mercury looked into Starfire's eye in awe. She thought the Tamaranian could fly fast before, but this was a new height of power Mercury had never imagined. "Starfire..." Mercury said, driven only by her truest emotions in this moment. "I love you," she confessed.

"Dude..." Beast Boy said, stunned.

Starfire held Mercury's hand and looked her in the eyes, starting to say something. She decided not to, reaching a gentle hand to Mercury's chin instead. Mercury felt Starfire tilt her head upwards before the Tamaranian leaned in for a kiss.

Mercury gasped as their lips touched, the contact sparking a flood of images and thoughts and feelings.

They rushed into Mercury, overwhelming her. She saw flashes of infinite stars, endless galaxies, and countless planets. She felt a scorching swell of passion in her heart; joy, pleasure, and strength all burning together at a magnitude Mercury had never experienced and would never know ever again.

Reality shattered around her, feeling only Starfire's tender kiss and gentle caress outside of the magnificent turmoil that stormed within herself. When Starfire pulled away, the world returned in an instant and Mercury brought a hand to her chest, breathless.

"I don't know what to say..." Mercury said between gasps for air. What did Starifre even do to her? She had no idea. What it a vision? A glimpse into what went on inside Starfire's mind? Mercury couldn't tell if she fully understood Starfire now or was even further from grasping what she was all about.

Starfire smiled.

"More words would ruin the moment," Raven said.

Mercury looked at Raven and then turned back to Starfire. It made sense in a weird way; explaining what just happened would take the magic out of it. Mercury, currently somewhere between bewildered and enlightened, held hands with Starfire as the breeze of the Tower quietly drifted by.

Moments later, Robin and Cyborg came up from the stairway. "We saw the light above the Tower-" Robin said before seeing Starfire standing with Raven, Mercury, and Beast Boy. "Starfire," he said, seeming to not believe his eyes.

"Well we sure are glad to see you!" Cyborg shouted. "Booyah! Star's back, baby!" He jogged over to join the other Titans and proceeded give Starfire a bear hug which turned into a group hug with Mercury and Beast Boy joining in.

"Yes, I am most pleased to see all of you as well," Starfire said, laughing from all the affection she was receiving. "Tell me, was Doctor-of-the-Element defeated after I left?"

"Yes, he was," Robin said. The Titans turned to look at him as he walked over. "Also, Mercury is now officially a Teen Titan," Robin said, grinning. He tossed Mercury her very own communicator. "Welcome."

The announcement was followed by a chorus of cheering and clapping from the Titans, minus Raven. It was now Mercury's turn to be embarrassed by the flood of praise and approval from her allies. "Oh, Ashley," Starfire said. "This is wondrous news!"

"Yeah, it's great," Mercury said, her words failing to describe how this made her feel. "Thank you so much," she said, choking up. "...all of you." She looked around at the group of heroes around her, the groups heroes that she was now a part of. This was better than any party.

"Now let's get to training," Robin said.

Mercury looked at Robin. "Right," she said with a nod.

"Not before she fixes my control room!" Cyborg shouted.

"Oh, yeah," Mercury laughed nervously.

* * *

Somewhere in western Europe a young woman and aspiring physicist stood with arms crossed in a glossy white room, polished floor and walls gleaming around her. She pushed slim black frames up the bridge of her nose as she watched the D.C.E.E building in Jump City burn to the ground, emergency teams dousing the flames but unable to save anything inside.

The woman sneered at the screen. "So he achieved his 'perfect energy' and didn't bother to tell me?" A doctor and scientist in her own right, she had taken the alias of 'Alkali' to disguise herself when conducting highly 'ambitious' research.

An artificially intelligent drone floated over her shoulder, a personal robot aid by the name of 'Valence'. "It seems so," the bot chimed.

"Hmph." Alkali shook her head. "...and now he's gotten himself thrown in jail." She brushed strands of black hair away from her face and rolled her eyes. "Forgive me if I don't care to break him out."

Valence turned to Alkali, scanning her with its single sensor. "How will you proceed, Doctor?"

"Pull up his last file update," Alkali instructed. "I'd like to see this 'perfect energy' for myself."

"Accessing Doctor Element's discreet server..." Valence interfaced with the monitor Alkali was looking at, replacing the news with the data from Doctor Element's network.

"It would take ages to rebuild this from scratch," Alkali said after scrolling through several dozen pages of schematics. When she reached the end of the energy core, information from the Periodic Projects began scrolling past.

"Those blasted projects," Alkali groaned. "Such busywork." After thinking for another moment, however, she changed her tune slightly. "Though, they would be useful right about now..." She turned to Valence. "Where are Platinum and Lithium?"

"They are lost, Doctor," Valence said. "Their implants are offline."

Alkali made a face. "Hydrogen and Chromium?"

"Projects Hydrogen and Chromium are offline as well," her robot replied.

"What projects do we have left?" the young doctor asked.

"Project Zirconium was captured with Doctor Element," Valence explained, pulling up reports from the battle in Jump City. "There's also Project Titanium, Project Tungsten, Project Gold, Project Mercury-"

"Project Mercury?" Alkaki repeated.

"Yes, Doctor," Valence confirmed.

"Pull up the data."

Within seconds Valence displayed all of the information regarding Project Mercury. Alkali read the data and was thoroughly intrigued.

"Incomplete: Ninety percent?" she asked, wondering what the story was behind that quirk in the file. She continued to read. "Metal manipulation, temperature manipulation, and radiation resistance..."

Alkali grinned.

"Yes, that one will do nicely."


End file.
